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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 6 months

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Breaking down the comics: A good boy (issue 30)

Moon Knight, Issue #30: The Moonwraith, Three Sixes, and a Beast

(We've hit 1983 people!)

PREVIOUSLY ON MOON KNIGHT!

We get a title page that states:

"WHAT HAS HAPPENED:

In the Omaha trainyards, Jack Russell - Cursed to become a werewolf under the influence of a full moon--Narrowly escapes capture by a satanic cult led by a man named Schuyler Belial. Belial-Who calls himself "Morning Star" --Orders his agents to follow Russell, last seen boarding an express train to New York.

A month passess. Moon Knight receives an urgent plea from Russell to meet him. Arriving at the rendezvous, a farmhouse in New Jersey, our hero learns that Russell has become the Werewolf again. He has also been found by Belial's cultists, who wound Moon Knight even as the Werewolf escapes them once more.

The following Morning, Moon Knight tracks Russell down and takes him home to Grant Mansion. He suspects that Belial has had a tracking device surgically implanted in Russel's skull, and examination by a doctor confirms his suspicions. It is too late to remove the device, however, because the Full Moon is about to rise again.

To control him during the night, Moon Knight straps Russell down. The Werewolf is stronger than expected, though, and breaks his bonds, then turns to face Marlene and Moon Knight with murder in his bestial eyes..."

Welp, Moon Knight has a werewolf in his guest room.

He tells Marlene to get the others to the basement while he figures out what to do about his friend.

He tries to reason with the beast.

He gets tossed out the window for his trouble.

And now the beast is free.

And in true Moon Knight fashion, he ends up on the ground in a crumpled heap.

He’s doing great.

The wolf dislikes the city in the rain. Seeking higher ground, he sits on a rooftop howling.

Moon Knight finds him and sneaks up on him and sucker punches him in the face.

The beast does not like this.

Once more...

They hit the ground hard.

"The water was hardly deep enough to cushion our fall, so we laid there until dawn."

With dawn, Jack Russell is back.

Passed out in the gutter next to Moon Knight, Belial's men find them.

The men take them both just to be safe.

It seems they finally have 'the beast of the apocalypse'. So all the followers of the good church of satan arrive out of LA.

And Schuyler, Self proclaimed Morning Star, greets them all with a shackled Jack Russell and Moon Knight.

It would seem Moon Knight is well known in these circles. (See Werewolf by Night for original context when we first met our beloved Moon Knight).

While they are eager to see their foe destroyed, Schuyler has failed them enough times and all they see is "A kid and some geek dressed in a Moon Knight outfit--the kind you rent for halloween."

Furthermore, Morning Star has decided that in order to further his power and beliefs, he needs to sacrifice the beast, convinced that the blood of the monster will transform him into a powerful supernatural being. He then intends to infect others until the apocalypse is unleashed.

The congregation seems to think it might work so they head to the roof for preparations of the final day of the full moon.

But first we have one of my ultimate favorite superhero gags.

They want to know who hides behind the mask of Moon Knight.

No one fucking knows who he is.

If you REALLY think about it, Why would anyone outside of their direct circle of in people know who this guy is? Sure, Steven’s a millionaire, but he isn’t exactly Bruce Wayne about it. He’s just some rich guy that sometimes throws parties or attends business meetings. Jake Lockley is a cab driver in New York City. And Marc Spector doesn’t even really have an existence in present day America. And if you happen to know who Marc Spector is, the odds are that you probably don’t care about a secret Moon Knight identity and just want the man dead for the simple fact that he is Marc Spector.

They move to return Moon Knight and Jack back to their cages.

And unfortunately for them, Moon Knight wakes up before he gets there.

He grabs Jack and makes a break for it. He calls for Frenchie and heads outside.

(Moon Knight no.... Not in the chopper.)

Up on the roof, the others are still getting their tour of the sacrificial altar when they're informed of the escape.

He tells them to use the tracker implanted in Jack's head. They have to get to him before the moon rises.

And then they look up and see the very unique and moon specific helicopter.

Luckily they avoid getting blown out of the sky and head back to the mansion.

Calling in the doctor, they manage to get the chip out.

It's noon now and time is of the essence.

In the meantime, Steven takes the chip and hides it in the mansion's game room.

He changes to Moon Knight and waits.

(Moon Knight no...not in the mansion)

And right on cue, we see the cultists heading back to the mansion.

Jack is now recovering from his surgery and his rough night. Marlene helps him to...

"Help Marlene get him into Lockley's cab in the garage, but tell her to stay there. Not to move until she hears from me over the cab's radio through my cowl-mike."

(Moon Knight no...not in the cab!)

The trap is set and the cultists bust into the mansion.

They wander into the game room only to find it empty with the homing device. Moon Knight springs his trap.

Whalloping them on the head with a pool cue, he tells Marlene to beat it!

(Moon Knight no…not in the diner.)

Really Marlene? Did you need to bust through the garage door? Of course no one’s outside! These guys are idiots and only sent two dudes to pick up the werewolf!

For the record, I fucking love Gena.

"I still say he looks like an ordinary white boy to me." She closes her diner as they sneak Jack in.

Next part of the plan? Marlene is going to hypnotize Jack.

She asks Gena for her necklace with pendant.

"Girl, this is a genuine pearl--not cultured, neither--so you just be real careful with it, hear?" (I love Gena)

She tells him to see the pendant and think of the moon.

He starts to change, fur growing in despite it only being 3.

She stops the change.

"This is just the moon in your imagination. Now, what does the full moon do to you?"

"It...Changes me...Turns me into werewolf..."

"That's right...It gives the werewolf life...and who is the werewolf?"

"Me...I'm the werewolf..."

"Then the Moon gives YOU life, doesn't it?"

(And who's a good boy? That’s right! You are!)

She directs his attention to Moon Knight, "the emissary of the moon. The spirit of the moon...The keeper of the moon's powers..."

In essence, she's trying to get the werewolf to stop trying to kill Moon Knight.

"Moon Knight is your friend."

She returns the pearl to Gena, who is patiently waiting. Gena calls it Hoodoo as she checks her pearl over.

Back at the cult, Morning Star gets a statick filld phone call saying that they got the beast despite Moon Knight's trouble.

Who knew Frenchie could do a convincing American accent?

Back at the diner, Jack enjoys a meal from Gena.

"So, Moon Knight, you still making good bounties?"

"I don't work for money anymore, Russell. Got enough to last me."

"Just fighting crime out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Something like that. How about you? Any closer to a cure?"

"Nope...But at least the werewolf hasn't killed anyone innocent yet--and thank god he seems to prefer game flesh to....human."

It's time for part two of the trap.

Moon Knight dons a cultist robe and Jack plays dead. They head into the building and take Jack to the roof.

Jack lays on the alter as the moon starts to rise and he starts to change.

Just as Morning Star prepares to plunge his blade into the changing man, Moon Knight uses one of the stolen weapons to shoot the blade from his hands.

"That's when Moon Knight blew his cover--at the last possible moment, no less-- by zapping the Silver Dagger out of Belial's hand. It had been some three inches from my heart."

Moon Knight calls out to tell Russell it's time to act.

The wolf springs up, unsure if it's acting because of Moon Knight or because of the cultists.

"But I jumped into their ugly faces with relish nonetheless. After the chill of the stone altar on my back, I wanted to warm up fast--and did."

The other cultists make the mistake of getting into a weird gun fight with Moon Knight, a man that knows his way around weapons.

"I don't normally use guns of any kind--But then it's not every day that I have to save the world from the forces of Satan!"

Only two of them? A werewolf and Moon Knight. Why shouldn’t these average middle aged men who chant all day be able to stop them?

“Only two of us, all right…But WHAT A PAIR.”

And then they bump into one another. Will the hypnosis have worked?

“Nice Russell…Nice boy…” (He’s a good boy! Such a good boy!)

It’s so nice to see them finally working together.

And rip through their hated flesh he does.

Belial makes a run for it and the wolf gives chase.

It catches him easily.

"He shrieked and gibbered, gaping at the beast of his own personal apocalypse. The sound only made my blood run hotter... And hotter still... Until I howled...and he screamed...And the hideous sounds became one."

The wolf throws Morning Star off the roof.

"Vengeance was mine, sayeth the werewolf...in a growl of supreme satisfaction."

The other cultists open fire on the wolf and Moon Knight tells him to get out of there before he's hit.

The Moon copter swoops in and drops the ladder.

The cops have arrived below and are getting ready to storm the building.

They just need to get the wolf out of there before more people show up.

Moon Knight tells him to grab the ladder.

"Grab it, Russell! Don't just stand there 'till they cut you down! Listen to me Russell...Grab it!!"

"Finally, the werewolf felt a vague stir of recognition...A soft urging from a sweetly haunting voice deep within me. I clawed at the bottom ladder rung--ANd was swept off the roof, into the Moon-cursed night."

Moon Knight yells to get Russell out of there as he continues to fight the cultists.

Moon Knight dives off the roof and uses his cape to glide away.

Blocks away, in the safe darkness of the city, the wolf drops to the streets and so does Moon Knight.

"We faced each other for long moments, across the deserted street...I turned and sprinted lithely for the moon."

Frenchie asks if Marc is going to give chase.

"He's already gone, Frenchie-His future is in our hands now. And it's probably better this way. For a moment, I thought I might be able to keep him under control.

...But Marlene's hypnotic spell can't last forever. ...And even though I hate to agree with Belial on ANY score...The werewolf is a beast. At least under the moon. And he simply craves his freedom too much to care about someone who kept hitting him over the head..."

(LOL)

"Moon Knight was wrong. Despite all our fights, the werewolf left with certain regret...Even if Moon Knight was also right about one thing... As a beast governed by no rules but my own, I was simply too stubborn about my freedom.

I had to run through the deep night and see what the next shadow might hide.

As for the trace of the human within me, it was all made easier by the fact that at least some people cared-And were maybe even praying I'd make it.

So I howled, and within the howl there was a farewell to Moon Knight..Maybe forever."

(I love the last page. It’s absolutely gorgeous.)

And there we have it! Moon Knight and the Werewolf by Night! Together again!

I love their dynamic! The former mercenary and bounty hunter, now a man out to protect people to make up for his monstrous deeds, and the man out to protect people from the monster he becomes.

I also love how the story is told from Jack and the werewolf’s narrative. It gives voice to the wolf and lets you see it as a thinking feeling creature. I also love how the werewolf acknowledges Jack still inside him. Two separate but whole beings.

A familiar struggle for control that Moon Knight readers have come to love. Perhaps this is why Moon Knight and the wolf do understand one another. Why Russell went looking for help from Moon Knight despite their sketchy past.

After all, who else has dared to tangle with the beast SO-MANY-TIMES?

If you are able, go read the OG comic that first introduces Moon Knight. The number of times they fight is comical. What Moon Knight went through just to capture him… At least you can’t call Moon Knight a quitter.

And with that absolutely splendid final page, Bill Sienkiewicz bids his farewell to Moon Knight.

At the end of this issue is also a "BULLPEN BULLETIN SPECIAL" which features an interview with Bill Sienkiewicz!

Interviewer: Care to tell the fans how your name is pronounced?

Bill: Bill.

Interviewer: So it's going to be that kind of interview, eh? Okay, Mr. Sin-Keh'-vitch.

[....]

Bill: After the story in issue #26, "Hit it", I was ready to move on. I felt that I'd climbed as high as I could with MK, for now. I knew I couldn't sustain it. I could talk for hours about it and the whole national problem of child abuse...And the art, how I was trying to express music, jazz, rhythm visually on paper... I felt it worked.

With this, our buddy Bill departs. Kevin Nowlan will be taking over for the next several issues.

Thank you Bill for your work in helping to give Moon Knight his face and often shapeless cat like splats on the ground.

Every special appearance of him in Moon Knight after is always a cherished treasure.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #analyzing the comics #Marc Spector #Jake Lockley #Steven Grant #Werewolf by Night #Jack Russell #I love them so much #Every time I see Moon Knight fight a werewolf it brings joy to my heart

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panharmonium · 3 years

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@dreamersscape said:

Part of why I like Shikamaru testing the would-be chunin with Kakashi’s principles so much is that Kakashi living by those words keeps Obito alive through them, right? And Obito already had those values, but he was verbalizing them in connection to why he believes Sakumo was a hero, so this combined principle that defines who Sakumo, Obito, and Kakashi are, is now going to live on in Naruto, Shikamaru, and the rest of their generation. And ofc “don’t put the rules above your comrades” is a good way to live regardless of whether any of their names are attached to it…I dunno, is it dumb to just want this to be Kakashi’s legacy over his other prowess/renown? (x)

NO IT IS NOT; I AM RIGHT THERE WITH YOU! (And I agree with what you said, that this is likely already how he’s going to be remembered - and I’m so grateful for that, because I think we know that there are many things in Kakashi’s life that have brought him renown but that he doesn’t want to be remembered for. Thinking specifically about that scene where Kakashi takes out an enemy and Yamato makes that comment about “keep this up and you’ll be famous,” and Kakashi is clearly so uncomfortable with that...Kakashi doesn’t want that kind of recognition, the kind you earn from being particularly efficient at killing people. He doesn’t want to go down in history as “cold-blooded Kakashi” - that was never something he wanted to be known as in the first place.)

Anyway, I was partway through writing the below post when I saw your replies about Kakashi’s family/legacy in relation to the new Chunin exams, and I just went, “we REALLY are having the exact same thoughts about this show” 🤝 so I’m just turning the rest of this post into a response to your comments, because I could not possibly agree with your angle on this topic more, and I knew my response wasn’t going to fit in the replies XD

The thing I kept thinking about when I saw that Shikamaru’s version of the Chunin exams was passing/failing students based on Kakashi’s criteria was that this is a HUGE paradigm shift for the Leaf Village (and for shinobi culture as a whole). The new exams say that if you abandon a teammate to complete your mission (aka to pass your test), you’ve made the wrong decision. The mark of a worthy shinobi, in this new framework, is your commitment to choosing people’s lives over the success of your mission. But to have something like this enshrined into the Chunin exams would have been unthinkable in earlier generations. When Kakashi’s father made a decision like this, he was breaking the law, and nothing about his choice was considered honorable or worthy or in any way acceptable. He was blamed for it by the Land of Fire and the Leaf Village, “slandered and vilified” by his peers (even the ones whose lives he saved), and hounded to the point of suicide. And even as little as four years ago, when Kakashi started working as a Jonin Leader, his philosophy for evaluating genin was still notorious, and his standards were considered to be abnormal (“It’s a good thing we didn’t get that jonin everybody talks about”/“Who does he think he is, making up his own criteria?”).

But just a few short years later, the script has been completely flipped. Now you can’t even become a chunin unless you demonstrate your commitment to putting your comrades’ lives first. And I just keep thinking about how that must feel for Kakashi, to see the systems that punished his father so mercilessly finally start to crumble and fall. To see a shift in the culture that indoctrinated Itachi and brainwashed Yamato into murdering family and friends, on the pretense that it was necessary for the sake of a mission. To see the values Kakashi has tried to live by ever since Obito’s death incorporated into the official structures of the shinobi world, when previously they were grounds for vicious persecution.

To have Sakumo’s choices validated and affirmed by the shinobi world’s promotion structure when just a few short years ago those choices were universally reviled and earned Sakumo nothing but shame, hatred, and harassment must be such an emotionally overwhelming experience for his son, who went through his own kind of crucible in the wake of Sakumo’s departure but ultimately came out the other side more committed to his father’s ideals than ever. To finally see things changing, and for these changes to be the direct result of Kakashi’s own teaching choices - I can’t imagine what that must feel like. I don’t even think that Kakashi ever expected to see a world that’s progressed this far, to be honest. He made a decision to embrace his father’s values, yes, but he did so long before they were considered acceptable, long before they were something he could ever expect to be rewarded for. That’s why Obito told him “no matter what the village or anyone else may say, I think you’re a great jonin” - he knew Kakashi broke the rules to rescue Rin the same way Sakumo broke the rules to rescue his comrades, and he knew it was entirely possible that Kakashi would catch flak for it upon returning home. In the shinobi world, the mission is absolute, and people who buck the system are branded as traitors. If the Battle of Kannabi Bridge had gone poorly because of the detour Kakashi and Obito took, Kakashi may not have been welcomed home quite so warmly.

Kakashi never really expects his choice to be rewarded or respected. But despite this, and despite the fact that he knows the potential consequences better than anyone, he chooses to stand by his father’s values anyway. He makes that decision the day he loses Obito, and he never looks back. No matter how lost he becomes, or how much pain he goes through (I’ve thought this world was hell, too), he never loses sight of this one thing: he’ll never abandon a friend, and he’ll never bow to anyone who tells him that his mission requires him to do so. That’s true throughout his time in ANBU (if your orders are to kill a friend, then those orders are wrong. and the one who gave you those orders is wrong!), and it’s true when he becomes a teacher, too. He persists in his convictions, no matter how unpopular they are, and he teaches them to an entire generation of children, even when people keep giving him the side-eye for failing entire teams of genin year after year.

He never expects his behavior to make this kind of difference, and he’ll probably never give himself credit for any of the changes that we’re starting to see now, but the only reason these things are happening is because of the choices he made back then. The new world we’re on the brink of building now is a direct result of Kakashi having taught his students the values that his father and Obito died for. Kakashi’s teaching is what helps Naruto go from “when I become Hokage, the whole village will have to stop disrespecting me and start treating me like i’m somebody important” to “how could i ever become hokage if i can’t even save one friend/a true hokage never steps over his comrades’ bodies.” It’s what helps Sakura go from “you obsessed about Sasuke, who was gone, while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn’t lift a finger to help him” to a decision to put her feelings for Sasuke aside in order to release Naruto from the promise he made to her, which is killing him. It’s what helps Sasuke go from "you thought [your teammates] were so far beneath you they were worthless” to “I don’t ever want to see that again - my trusted comrades falling right in front of me,” as he offers to die for them against Gaara. It’s what helps even Neji Hyuga go from a disdainful “who does he think he is, making up his own criteria” to an affirmation of those same criteria when telling the Hidden Rain ninja “it’s just the Chunin exams. The safety of our teammate is more important than passing.”

All of the changes that we’re seeing now are happening because Kakashi was committed to teaching the next generation the lessons he feels are important, contrary to widely-held public opinions and in defiance of the people who made a near-successful attempt at turning him against his own father: We never abandon our friends. We never sacrifice our comrades. If your orders are to kill a friend, then those orders are wrong. We do what’s right, not what we’re told.

The Hatake clan may not have a hereditary jutsu to be passed down to others, but THIS is their legacy. This massive sea change in shinobi culture, the hard-fought shift away from a repeat of the tragically sacrificial Sakumos and Itachis and Tenzos of the old shinobi world, the total inversion of Mission > People to People > Mission - all of that started with Kakashi’s father, who died before he could see his work completed, but whose torch was picked up by Obito, and then by Kakashi, who made it his mission to pass on those ideals to the Leaf Village’s children, some of whom are now making policies that affect promotion criteria for the entire shinobi world.

Just...I’m thinking about Kakashi taking Sakura out to celebrate and to hear all about her test, and I know she won’t even give Shikamaru’s last question a second thought, because to her it’s just natural that they’d be tested on that; Kakashi’s been testing them on that stuff since day one; it doesn’t even occur to her that there’s anything novel or strange or revolutionary about it; it’s just expected and accepted by her entire class that the principle “people are more important than rules” is something all shinobi should understand - when in reality, things have NEVER been like that before, and it’s taken SO much work to get here. A question like this being included as pass/fail criteria on the Chunin exams would have been unimaginable just a few short years ago. Kakashi’s father was harassed to his death for answering this question in the exact same way that is now required of anyone who wants to pass the test.

What an incredible feeling that must be for Kakashi, who worked so hard and endured so much to keep these values alive. To see how far the world has come - and to know how much of this progress is the result of his own choices, which he never thought would amount to anything so substantial - what a bizarre, beautiful, bittersweet feeling that must be.

#i wrote in some other post about how kakashi's teaching of obito's values is tantamount to performing a resurrection #and it's happening again here #kakashi lost every single person who mattered to him back then #but his refusal to give up on what they believed in eventually brings them back to life #no reanimation jutsu needed #kakashi's friends and family are alive in the hearts and minds of the next generation #they're still shaping the future #even from beyond the grave #WHAT A LEGACY TO LEAVE #naruto #meta #i got lost on the path of life #pan watches naruto

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pridepoisoned · 2 years

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BERSERK!! BREAKTHROUGH!!

DISCLAIMER: This drabble contains mentions of abuse, violence, and implied Pokemon experimentation/death.

The junior lab assistant takes heavy, hesitant steps as he descends down Devon’s secret stairwells, punches complex passcodes into locked doors, and passes through soundproofed basement hallways. In his arms, the nervous scientist cradles a heavy crate loaded down with the capsules of so-called pest Pokemon: rock-devouring Arons and annoying Zubats from Granite Cave, along with pesky Wurmples from Petalburg Woods. Even though he know all of this was so, so wrong, he couldn’t defy that order from up top: catch as many as you can, and bring them to her. The Corporation that he previously adored had trapped him with this terrible assignment--if he showed any form of resistance, the brass could ruin his entire life.

Taking a deep breath, disgust and self-loathing bubbling deep in his stomach, the assistant finally arrives at the double-reinforced doors at the end of the underground hallway, the entrance to Devon’s most hidden laboratory. Recognizing his pale, shadow-shrouded face, the entryway slides open with a hiss, revealing her. The gleeful conductor of these terrible Pokemon tests, the demure, smiling figurehead of Devon’s public side, the brilliant, twisted mind...

ERIS EVANS.

She’s hunched over near her infernal creation: the reimagined ABSORBER, Infinity Energy converter and known extinguisher of life. Fully ensnared by her work, Eris doesn’t even acknowledge her latest assistant’s presence when he steps inside the darkened lab, the automatic doors sliding shut with finality behind him. No, Devon’s unofficial spokesperson looks nothing like her usual, carefully-maintained self: her lab coat is dirty and wrinkled, her purple hair is disheveled, and there are dark rings under her eyes, all signs of her near-total obsession with the machine before her. Sparks fly over her chipped fingernails as she deftly tinkers with some complex wiring.

“Put the crate down. We’ll load them shortly,” she orders without looking up, her callous tone making the assistant flinch. He stares down at the helpless Pokeballs within the box--there’s no way he can go through with this again, right? Is this job really worth so much...? The conflicted underling sets the crate down, stiffens his shoulders, and advances towards the turned back of his superior, drawing a Pokeball from his belt. It’s taken a while, but he’s finally made his decision.

“This has to stop, Eris,” he declares, finding what he hopes is a confident voice. “We can’t keep doing-”

CRACK!

Before the poor assistant can finish, Eris pulls herself to her feet, turns, and--with surprising speed--slaps him hard across the face. The assistant’s head snaps to the side, and he drops his Pokemon in shock, hand immediately flying to his tender cheek. For just a moment, Eris seems surprised by her overviolent reaction as well, but she recomposes herself quickly, a sneer curling her lips as she gets right in her underling’s face. Her stinging hand flies to his throat, his Adam's apple quivering under her palm. She doesn’t have to worry about maintaining her mask down here--this lab is her domain, and any insolence will be punished. Swiftly.

“...Who do you think you are, acting so bravely out of the blue? Hm?” she breathes, watching him wheeze in her grip. “I’m not surprised that you want to save these Pokemon. Weak replaceable trash tries to save his own kind--pathetic.”

Her amethyst eyes flicker down to the assistant’s abandoned Pokeball, a twisted smile playing on her lips. “I’ll let you play hero, you know. Volunteer your Pokemon in place of the others--that’s a noble sacrifice, don’t you think? We could extract lot of useful data from your friend...”

Despite his convictions, the assistant can’t bring himself to do that, shaking his head in protest, scrabbling at Eris’s uncompromising wrist. The wild scientist scoffs at his desperate reaction, the chilling sneer returning to her expression. “The original plan, then,” she decides coldly, finally pushing him away from her. However, before he can get his bearings, she slaps him again, sending his overwhelmed figure crashing to the floor, gasping for breath.

“Jeleva,” she mutters, and her Skuntank appears at her side with a hiss, beady eyes fixed on the fallen peon. “Keep watch and see that he doesn’t interfere further, will you?”

With her Pokemon looming over the shuddering assistant, Eris picks up the box herself with a grunt and begins to prime the Absorber for launch. It doesn’t take long for her to set everything up for the testing phase--another potential glimpse into the future of Infinity Energy. With the capsule crate settled beneath the imposing machine, the warped scientist takes an anticipatory breath...and activates the switch.

The Absorber hums and crackles, a beam of blindingly luminous energy shooting up from the box of Pokemon. Within seconds, all the lights in the lab shine impossibly bright, impressive waves of heat also rolling forth from the futuristic structure. The assistant shields his eyes and scrambles away, but Eris stands tall behind the controls with a blissful smile on her face, her eyes shut tightly. This moment--with unchecked energy flying around the room and limitless power crackling in her veins--is everything.

Eris feels like she could exist in this high forever, but as always, her time detached from reality is much too short. When she opens her eyes again, all the lights in the lab have blown out, sparks raining feebly from the fixtures. The Absorber, while longer lasting than its last prototype, has come to a groaning stop, eerily silent and smelling strongly of smoke. Eris steps away from the control panel, waving away fumes and glancing briefly over at her stony-faced assistant and the ever-vigilant Jeleva. After today’s outburst, she has no problem kicking him out to the Rustboro curb, yet another analytical soul who just couldn’t keep up with her.

Despite the chaos inside the hidden lab, despite how the Absorber had singed her hair, how her assistant had scratched desperately at the back of her hands...Eris can’t help but smile. Devon would be pleased to hear that her latest prototype had the greatest (and longest-lasting) energy output so far. To the smiling Hoenn megacorp, it didn’t really matter what Eris had to do to complete their ambitious project. After all, they knew what they were getting into when they hired the former Galactic Commander.

Scientific progress. Pushing the envelope forward towards a brighter future, a brilliant tomorrow for everybody.

At any cost.

#abuse tw #violence tw #(implied)#experimentation tw #(back on my Villain Bullshit in a major way)#(me: man i should write eris cause its been a minute)#(also me: writes maybe my longest post of all time otl)#(god!!)#(v: eris evans)#QUEUED.

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

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Stark Spangled Banner Ch 57: We’re In The Endgame Now

Intro The Time Heist worked, but at a cost. Natasha gave her life for the Soul Stone. Following a promise to make her sacrifice worth something, the Avengers continued their plan and succeeded in reversing the Snap. But along with everyone else, the biggest threat the Avengers have ever faced re-appeared.

Thanos.

Now Steve and Katie, along with the rest of their team are locked in a fearsome battle, between light and dark, life and death. Simply put, it’s a battle which they cannot afford to lose because they’re in the Endgame now…

Warnings:

“Language!”

Character death. Please have your tissues ready…there’s gonna be tears.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

So…I’m REALY nervous about this one!! I hope I do it justice. It flits between perspectives so I hope you can follow it, and used a lot of visuals too... Please re-blog and leave your thoughts xxx

"Baby…” Steve heard Katie’s voice, it was desperate, shattered, and something else inside him broke even more. “You gotta get up…” she pleaded, shaking his shoulder, “Come on…”

Steve grit his teeth as he rolled to the side, Katie’s hand still on his shoulder as he rest against his forearm, trying to muster the strength to get up.

“Come on…” Katie whispered, “We need to try, keep him distracted until Tony and Thor come round….hopefully the others can find their way back to the surface. And then if we can get the stones we can end this.” It was a long shot, beyond long in fact. Steve knew that. Katie knew that. But whilst there was hope…no matter how small a hope it was, or how beaten they felt, they had to try. Steve turned his head to look over his shoulder at his wife. Her face plate was open and there were tears streaking down her cheeks. She looked at him and then glanced to her left, and he saw utter hatred and fear cloud her pretty face.

“In all my years of conquest, violence, slaughter... it was never personal.” Thanos spoke as Katie and Steve both glared at him, from their vantage point on the floor, Katie almost shielding Steve with her body as she knelt by his side. “But I'll tell you now, what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet...I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.”

And then, as they watched, behind Thanos, a blue light shot down and when it dissipated it left what looked like thousands of soldiers stood in rows. Thanos had brought his entire army. The so called Children of Thanos, Chitauri, those damned dog things they had fought in Wakanda...

Katie took a shaky breath, and let out a sob as she realised that any hope they had was gone. They might have, just might have stood a chance against Thanos alone, but not against his full army. She locked eyes with his Steve before he looked down at the ground, away from her eyes. More of her tears fell as she understood this was it. This was the end. For them, for their kids, for the world.

According to some, there’s a calm serenity that descends on you when you know you’re time is up. But Steve didn’t feel calm, he felt anger, hatred…all towards himself. This was down to him, he’d brought this upon his family, his friends…he should have left those fucking stones in the past and dealt with his feelings of failure. Instead, here he was, a failure again. Beaten on a battlefield by the very man they actually killed some 5 years previously that was now about to wipe out the entire world. How fucked up was that?

“We are not going like this…” Katie said, openly sobbing as she shook her head, looking from Steve to the assembled army. “Not like this. We stand up, and we go fighting, you hear me?”

“You always get up Stevie, ya hear?” his Ma looked at him, wiping the blood from his split lip, ignoring his flinch. “No matter how hard they hit ya, you never give them the satisfaction of stayin’ down, lad, never. You push back, and eventually they’ll realise that they can’t fight forever...”

He glanced at the broken shield on his arm, swallowing as he remembered Jamie looking at him when he told him he used to be Captain America. His beautiful baby boy’s eyes that were so like Steve’s mother’s, wide with awe, and pride.

“You were Captain America?” Jamie frowned. “When you fighted with the Avengers?”

“Yeah” he sighed, running his hand through Jamie’s golden hair “I was.”

“Are you now?”

“I dunno.” Steve said, glancing back at his shield.

“I think you are” Jamie cocked his head to one side as his hand reached out to touch the shield. “Because Cap’s a hero and you’re my hero”

Well fuck this. Katie was right, his Ma was right. If he was going, then he was going down fighting. Alongside his best gal, his partner, the woman who gave him more strength than any serum ever could.

He pushed himself to his feet, teeth grit, fierce determination across every line on his face. With a shaking hand he tightened the leather straps on his broken shield around his arm and stood tall, turning to Katie.

“I love you.” he choked out, holding out his right hand to grip her left “’til the end of the line.” She turned to him, her eyes streaming with tears before she reached up and pulled his face to hers, pressing a fierce kiss to his lips.

“The very end…” she stuttered out, before they turned to face their death.

Man and Wife walked slowly towards Thanos, who simply stood, his head cocked to his right. They’d barely made it 4 foot however, when their communicators started crackling.

“Hey, Cap, you read me?”

It was faint…and broken…but it was a voice they hadn’t heard in 5 years other than in their nightmares about that fateful day they failed in Wakanda. A voice they would never forget.

Sam.

Both of them stopped dead, Steve’s mouth dropped open and he looked at Katie, raising a shaking hand to his head in an attempt to press the comms piece further into his ear. They both turned to each other, their faces shocked, not quite sure whether to believe if they were hearing things or...

“Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?”

Both Katie and Steve’s chests rose and fell deeply as they tried to understand where Sam was. They knew Banner's snap had worked, but surely if everyone came back where they had vanished then they should be in Wakanda. Nevertheless, Steve instinctively glanced upwards, and Sam spoke again.

“On your left.”

They both turned, seeing a sparkling yellow circle to the left of Steve. As they watched, utterly dumbfounded, three figures stepped through and Katie realised from their Silhouettes alone who it was- Okoye, Shuri, and T’Challa in his full Black Panther garb. Katie’s hand flew to her mouth as T'Challa's mask faded away to look at Steve. The soldier breathed shakily and relieved and thankful smile broke through the filth and grime that covered his face. T'Challa gave him a small nod, before he turned to Katie and bowed slightly, the way he always did.

Katie’s breathing suddenly became erratic as she gripped Steve’s hand and the sobs began again, but this time they were punctuated by laughs, laughs and stutters of utter relief which turned into a yell of pure joy when Sam zoomed in above them in his Falcon armour. They watched as he flew and circled back round, Katie ’hands flying into the back of her hair, gripping as she doubled over and sobbed, simply unable to believe it.

Steve could do nothing but watch in a relieved, thankful and astounded awe as dozens and dozens more portals opened up all around the battlefield. He knew who the man that descended at the front was- Doctor Strange and he was joined by 3 people he also knew to be Rocket’s friends- The Guardians of the Galaxy- then came Spider-Man, his mask flopping down to reveal an alive and well Peter Parker behind it. Katie tore her eyes away to look for Tony who was now sitting up, a look of utter shock on his face. He found her eyes and gave a small twitch of his mouth as he scrambled to his feet, and turned to Thor who was now grinning ear to ear as he watched the portal that was bringing Valkyrie and the Asgardian army to their aid. Katie could heard chanting now and she turned to see the full Wakandan Army stepping through another portal headed by Bucky. The number of people arriving to support the Avengers rose as Dr Strange continued to conjure portals, and Katie screamed as a familiar red energy alerted them both to Wanda’s appearance, where she landed not far from Bucky, her eyes blazing. And then, with a clang Pepper landed a few feet away from Katie clad in her own Iron Suit and Tony joined them, shooting his wife a proud look. Finally there was a loud roaring, crashing noise and Katie and Steve spun to see Scott Lang as the Giant-Ant Man emerging from the rubble with Banner, Rhodey, Rocket and Clint.

The group of thousands behind Katie and Steve up their fighting stances, brandishing whatever weapons or powers they had, Steve looked around, almost bursting into tears himself at the emotions flooding his chest. He glanced at his wife who looked back, wiping her eyes, her breathing still deep as she couldn’t quite believe how all these people had come to help. Steve didn’t either, but all he knew was they had. And now they were almost if not completely equal on numbers. And they had hope once more.

In fact, they had more than hope. They had a chance. And that was good enough for the Captain. He’d beaten worse odds before, and he was damned sure they could do it again, especially when he turned to look at Thanos and saw for the first time something that looked like fear, apprehension even on the Titan’s face.

He turned to face Katie again as she gave him a nod.

“Call it Captain…” she said, her voice full of determination as her face plate slid back into place.

And call it he did.

“AVENGERS!” his cry echoed across the battle field as he held out his hand, summoning Mjolnir to his palm. Thor landed by his side just as the hammer slapped into Steve’s glove and he glared up at Thanos, his teeth grit with utter determination “ –Assemble.”

Behind him Thor gave a loud battle cry as did Black Panther and the Avengers’ army began to charge. Katie, Tony and Pepper flying almost in formation as they sped forward. Almost instantly the two sides collided violently, and the fighting began. Bullets, beams, punches, kicks, knives, spears, all flying and smashing against one another. The air was filled with yells, grunts and the clanging of metal against metal.

Thor and Steve found themselves fighting off a large group of the dog like creatures and somehow Steve ended up holding Stormbreaker. Not for long, because that belonged to Thor. His Thanos killing axe. No way was the God of Thunder letting the Captain wield that.

“No no, give me that…” he held out his hand, tossing him Mjolnir. "You can have the little one,"

Katie, Tony and Pepper were circling back to back in a 3, their booster beams shooting at anything and everything, spiralling into groups of the warriors, helping anyone they could. Katie spotted that Clint was swamped a little so she flew down, freeing him before she shot into the air and found herself flying along side Sam.

“Mrs R…”he turned to face her and she gave him a nod.

“Good to see you Sammy…” she smiled.

“You know me, never one to miss a good fire fight!” he smirked, shooting his semi-autos at something that was flying into the air in front of him.

Tony shot down, barrelling into a group of Chitauri warriors, just like he had in New York. With a whoop he scattered them like bowling pins, landing and shooting off guns and beams, before something hit him hard on the side of the head and sent him flying. He landed, and pushed himself up on his elbows ready to fight but at the same time the Giant Ant-Man crushed his assailant.

And then, the kid was there. Peter was running straight to Tony. In the suit Tony had made for him. The Billionaire blinked, retracting his helmet as Pete’s usual, incessant and enthusiastic rambles filled his ear.

“Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out ‘cause I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, "It's been five years. Come on, they need us." And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time..” he started using two fingers to demonstrate Strange's swirl in the air but Tony stopped him, the emotions of seeing the kid alive again were swirling in his chest, and with watery eyes he stepped forward and pulled the kid into a hug.

“What are you doing?...” Peter said, shocked at his mentor’s display of affection before he hugged Tony back. “This is nice”

The fight raged on and on and on. But no one gave up, they knew they had no option but to win this, for the sake of everything and everyone on the planet, and none more than Steve, who was fighting with every goddamned bit of strength he had to get back to his kids and his wife and finally buy that fucking holiday home in Orlando that Katie had been eyeing up.

Across the field he could just about make out Clint, who was sprinting like his life depended on it. Which, in fairness, it did. The gauntlet was clutched to his chest and he spoke into his comms, asking his leader for instructions.

“Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?”

“Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve instructed, punching another creature in the head.

“No!” Banner yelled back “We need to get them back where they came from.”

“No way to get them back” Tony sighed “Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel”

“Hold on…” Lang spoke, and Steve saw the 100 foot or so man shrink out of the air "That wasn't our only time machine!"

The sound of Scott’s van horn, rang out across the battle ground and Steve immediately ran up to higher ground, trying to spot the van, following the noise.

"Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?" Steve asked, looking up.

Katie shot above him and he watched her as she circled over the fighting armies before she stopped, hovering and pointing down underneath her

“Yes!” She yelled victoriously, as Valkyrie flew alongside her on her winged horse, shooting her a look.

“You're not going to like where it's parked!” The Asgardian finished, pointing her spear to it.

Tony flew up into the air shooting another Chitauri warrior off his…well, whatever the hell you called those flying scooter things before he glanced down at Lang.

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?”

“Maybe ten minutes”.

“Get it started.” Rogers instructed We'll get the stones to you.”

And then as Tony watched, ready to cover Lang as he broke for it, a woman materialised next to him. Nothing should surprise Tony anymore, nothing, but it did. And he had absolutely no idea why.

“We're on it, Cap.” she spoke softly, before they pair of them shrunk again and FRIDAY kept a lock on them as they flew away, no bigger than ants.

Ok, so maybe Lang didn’t need covering after all. Tony watched them via FRIDAYS scanners as they flew towards the van, and saw Katie and Pepper fighting in tandem, the pair of them bringing down a huge Chituari beast that looked like a gorilla. He grinned at the sight of his wife and sister kicking ass, and then spotted Strange in the corner of his eye, trapping a load of Chitauri in his magic, sending them through portals. Recalling the conversation they had on Titan, he had to know and so he landed, turning to look at the Wizard.

“Hey. You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah?” he asked, glancing around “Tell me this is it.”

“If I tell you what happens, it won't happen” Strange said back, and Tony groaned. Jesus this man was infuriating.

“You better be right.” Tony shot back, pointing an iron clad finger at him.

As Scott was hot-wiring his van, because of course it was dead, the fight was raging on and the gauntlet was in some kind of relay across the battle field towards them. T’Challa took it off Clint and as Thanos advanced on the black Panther, Wanda landed in front of him, her eyes blazing. She then began to fight Thanos furiously, and she seemed to be getting the upper hand as bits of his armour began to peel off him as he hovered in the air, surrounded by her red power. Wanda was attempting to tear him apart.

In desperation Thanos gave the instruction for his ships to fire down on the battle field, not caring that his own troops would also be hit. As the missiles began to hit the ground, everyone tried to dodge as best they could. Strange and the rest of his troops held up their arms conjuring magic shields to attempt to keep the troops on the ground as sheltered as possible. Katie and Pepper employing evasive manoeuvres as they sped across the sky, until a large explosion caught their attention and they glanced over to the bank of the river. One of the missiles from the ship had blasted part of it away and the water was now rushing up and over the edge and threatening to flood the canyon the battle was taking place in. After a nervous shout from Pepper, Strange jumped to it and conjured up his power, capturing the water in some kind of magic and holding it still.

“Where are the stones?” Katie asked frantically, circling above, still dodging the fire. And Steve had to admit, he’d kinda like to know as well. It was then that they both heard Peter Parker yelling, and they realised he had the gauntlet.

"I got this…” there was a scuffle "Ok, I don't got this. Help! Somebody! Help!"

"Hey Queens," Steve said, "Heads up!" He took a couple steps forward flung Mjolnir through the air. Peter shot his web at it, and it catapulted him through the air where Katie caught him.

"Hang on, I got you Spider-Kid!" she said, as they flew through the air and she tossed him to Valkyrie as she flew past. But her horse was hit by the fire from Thanos’ ship and Peter was blasted to the floor.

“Tony, have you any idea how we can shut that thing down?” Katie asked desperately, looking at the ship. They needed that damned thing out of order to stand any chance. The missiles were coming even harder now, and Steve dove to take cover behind a rock.

And then, all the noise stopped, and the cannons on the ship lifted upward and they began to fire into the sky.

“What the hell is this?” Sam asked, as he flew along side Katie.

"FRIDAY, what are they firing at?" Tony asked, his voice slightly worried.

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere," FRIDAY replied in both Tony and Katie’s ear.

Then a huge, bright ball of pulsating energy came surging down straight through the ship, and then back up through it again.

“DANVERS!” Katie yelled, watching as the woman hovered above the fast descending ship as it crash-landed in the lake.

"Now that’s how to make an entrance," she, glanced at her brother where he was hovering not far away from her. He turned to look at her, and even though she couldn’t see his face she knew he was rolling his eyes.

"I used to make a perfectly fine entrance, thank you Kiddo…”

"Danvers," Steve glanced up, hardly able to keep the smile of his face, even though he knew this was far from over. But Thanos was looking worried now, he could see from the Titan’s body language, and that was enough of a boost for the Super Soldier to sweep back into Captain mode, they could win this...

“We could use an assist here…” he looked up.

“What on?” Carol asked, flying towards Katie.

“We need to get the stones to the brown van…” Katie said, circling and then she spotted Peter who was crouched in a crater, the gauntlet tight within his arms. Gesturing to Carol she landed by Peter, her helmet sliding away and Carol gently dropped besides her and looked down at Peter..

"Hi. I'm Peter Parker," he said, looking up at her, his nose blooded.

Carol smirked, almost flirtatiously. "Hey Peter Parker. Got something for me?"

Peter pushed himself up and handed her the gauntlet, before he looked at the Army who was crawling towards them. “I don't know how you're gonna get it through all that” he said quietly.

Wanda then landed next to Katie and glanced around, her red power surrounding her. “Don't worry.” the Sokovian woman said as Valkyrie landed on her winged horse

“She's got help” Okoye said stepping up as she looked around.

“Where’s Nat?” Wanda asked as Pepper landed next to Okoye. Katie hung her head slightly as she looked at her, as more and more of the women from the battle landed in front of them- Mantis, then Shuri Hope, Gamora and Nebula.

“She didn’t make it Wan…” Katie said gently, and she heard Okoye gasp and then realised that no one had told the Warrior “She didn’t make it back from the mission to get the stones.” Okoye spun her shield in her hands, her face stoney as she eyed up the army which was advancing on them. “Then this…this is for her…” The Wakandan woman said, turning to Katie who nodded.

And then they attacked. Thanos' army charged while the women helped Carol Danvers go through the swarm of aliens, Chitauri, animals alike. Okoye took out the larger fighter that Katie recognised from the train station in Edinburgh as Wanda, her, Pepper and Valkyrie destroyed two leviathans. Carol Danvers then started flying towards the van with the Gauntlet, at a rate of knots, going through every blockade that was in her way with ease. Thanos, seeing this, started running towards her.

“We gotta cover Danvers!” Katie yelled as she flew down, followed by Pepper as Shuri and Hope also stood tall, the 4 of them unloading their various weapons and succeeding in blasting Thanos backwards. Danvers sped past him, but through the heat and flash of various beams and weapons, no one spotted him launching the half of his sword towards the van until it was too late.

Steve felt the explosion and looked up at the huge flash of light, seeing Danvers being catapulted back through the air, her grip on the gauntlet lost and it fell to the ground. Then, it was almost like time slowed down as Thanos paused, looking at the Gauntlet, at the same time as Tony sat up and did the same. As Steve sprinted towards the pair of them Tony went to tackle him from behind only to be batted away to the side somewhere. Steve continued to sprint, he was almost there, almost…and then Thor landed swinging his lightning covered axe at the Titan before his hammer flew into his hand and he used both weapons to hold Thanos at bay. Steve threw himself on Thanos’ back grabbing at the axe, pulling with all his might in an attempt to slice it straight through Thanos’ neck. But it was to no avail. With a might head-butt Thanos sent Thor sprawling backwards and he reached up and pulled Steve off him, flinging him through the air like a rag doll. He landed hard, his head colliding with something, and he was out cold.

“Steve!” Katie saw him go flying, and was about to go after him, but she saw Thanos reaching for the gauntlet. Surging her suit forwards she shot at him, desperation flooding her system, and she kept her beam going as she flew down. Her fingers grazed the gauntlet before a harsh kick to her head sent her flipping back and through the air with no control over her flight plan. She landed heavily, groaning as she felt blood trickle down her temple. She had taken a bad hit there and felt herself zoning in and out, the sounds of the battle muting slightly as she lay on her back, her helmet flying open as she took deep gulps of air before it all went black.

Tony, meanwhile, had come to. He sat up, and saw that Thanos and Danvers were locked in combat, Danvers’ hands were both wrapped round Thanos’ left and Tony could see that he now had the gauntlet. They were so close, surely…surely not. He couldn’t snap again. He grimaced as Thanos went to head but the woman, but nothing. It simply bounced off the energy surrounding her. And Tony felt a glimmer of hope, maybe she was their secret weapon. The one in 14 million, 605 that meant they were gonna win. As he watched she surged upwards, forcing Thanos to his knees but the Titan pulled the Power Stone out of the gauntlet and clutching it in his right hand he hit Danvers hard and she flew through the air, landing harshly. With pure desperation, Tony turned to look at Strange who was watching him. The magician simply raised one finger, which was trembling slightly. Trembling, Tony assumed, because the one win he foresaw was now at risk. But as he looked at the man, Strange’s eyes filled with sadness and Tony realised that it wasn’t Carol he saw winning the battle after all.

It was him.

And then he understood completely. And he knew what he had to do. With a deep breath, resigned to his fate he threw himself at the Titan.

With a heavy moan, Katie sat up, just in time to see Tony grappling with Thanos. With an angry cry she fired her suit up again and shot forwards, but as she did Thanos cast aside her brother easily. She bore down on him she shooting her beams, using her boosters and everything she had, but once again she was forced to quit after one of the Chitauri Leviathons came straight for her. She just managed to dodge it by shooting to the right, but was caught heavily by one of its fins and for the second time in as many minutes she was spiralling though the air with no control. The heads up display in her helmet flickered slightly and there was ringing in her ears mingled with FRIDAY’s desperate calls. The ground was rising to meet her but just in time she managed to pull herself round and righted herself in the air. Spinning round she saw Tony knelt up, his helmet retracted as he stared at the Titan, who was leering down over him with a twisted grin on his face.

“I am inevitable…”He said. It was the second time she had heard him say that. And then he rose his hand which bore the gauntlet.

Katie’s desperate scream echoed around her helmet as she hovered in mid-air and before she could so much as move, the Titan snapped. But instead of the beams of light and the shaking of the ground that had happened when Bruce did it. There was nothing. Katie’s face plate slid back, because the thought the displays were damaged but her eyes widened as Thanos glanced down at his gauntlet. She realised at the same time he did that the stones were missing. And then, as if in slow motion, the pieces started to slot into place, both figuratively and mentally.

Tony knelt tall, the stones twirling round his hand. Lights circled his forearm and bicep and he let out a loud yell, the utter pain and power consumed him. It bore into every cell on his body and took everything he had inside him to keep himself upright. This was it the end that he always knew he was going to meet. And strangely, he wasn’t scared. Not for him anyway, this was his destiny… the only way it would ever end.

“We’re in the Endgame now...”

Morgan’s face flashed across Tony’s mind, then Pepper’s, then his sister’s as his head fell back, the power surging up his arm and shoulder. Pulling his head up with an almighty wrench, his eyes locked on those belonging to the Thanos and he could feel the stones vibrating on his gauntlet, humming, almost like they knew what was coming. Maybe they did.

The bastards words echoed in his mind. “I am inevitable.”

Well, eat shit you fucker…

His eyes flickered to his sister, who was watching the entire event unfold, paralysed in mid-air behind the Titan, her helmet retracted and mouth open in a silent scream. With a soft smile he then turned back to the Titan and looked him square in the face, speaking with the most conviction he could ever remember having.

“And I…am…Iron Man.”

He raised his fingers, concentrating on what he wanted to happen, and snapped. The power surge made Tony collapse forward, his skin was burning and his throat felt like it was being closed off. He pushed himself to his feet, hand clutched to the arc reactor in his chest as he tried to speak into his Comms, but the words wouldn’t come. Staggering a few feet, he stumbled to a large upturned piece of concrete laced with rebar before he collapsed against it, hard.

Steve who had just got to his feet was aware of a bright flash of light and the vibrating of the ground underneath him and new instantly that someone had snapped. He spun round in desperate hope it wasn’t Thanos, and then as he saw one of the animals bearing down on him he braced himself, aiming a hard punch to it’s head. But he connected with nothing. He paused, his eyes widening, mouth falling open in shock as he watched Thanos’ army turn to dust all around the field and he realised that they’d won. It wasn’t Thanos who had snapped, it was one of them. With a relieved sigh, he wheeled around expecting to see Thor or Banner with the gauntlet, his mouth suddenly going dry as he realised the effect it had on Banner the last time but they were nowhere to be found. And that was when he spotted his wife, deactivating her suit as she ran, scrambling over piles of concrete and stones to get to someone.

Tony’s breathing was laboured and his eyes were full wide when Katie finally reached him, grabbing his gauntlet clad hand.

“Tony, come on…look at me…” He was done, he understood that. But they’d won. Morgan, Pepper, Kiddo, Jamie, Emmy, Steve…his family were all safe. The world was safe. He tried to speak, tried to tell her it was ok, that he accepted what was happening, but his voice was merely a whisper.

“I…”

“Shhh, save your strength…” Katie gently placed her hand on the side of his head, down the cheek which wasn’t badly burnt and she was aware that someone had landed next to her. Rhodey dropped to his knee gently, his hand falling to Tony’s shoulder as he looked at his friend, not saying a word. Katie turned to him, his eyes filling with tears.

“Mr Stark?” Peter Parker landed between her and Rhodey Katie turned back to her brother as his head collapsed against the concrete. “Hey Mr Stark, can you hear me…it’s Peter…” Tony’s face turned to the young man, a flash of recognition on his face as he tried to smile.

“We won…Mr Stark” Peter said, his breathing deep. “We won, you did it Sir, we did it…I’m sorry…don’t….” He began to cry as Tony’s head lolled to the side and then Katie was aware of someone else behind them, gently pulling Peter up and away. She turned to her right as Pepper crouched next to her. She gently squeezed Katie’s arm before she touched Tony on his shoulder, placing her other hand over the arc reactor on his chest.

“Hey…” she said softly.

“Pep…” he managed to whisper as his hand fell on top of hers and Katie placed her own over his.

“FRIDAY? ” Pepper spoke with a thick swallow, even though Katie knew there was no need to ask the AI. The stones had almost killed Thanos and Banner. Tony stood no chance. He was dying.

“Life functions are critical…” the AI spoke and Katie bowed her head, her tears falling to the ground.

“Tony…” Pepper said softly, and Katie looked back at her brother, who was smiling up at his wife. She gently smiled back, as he turned his head to his sister and she tried her hardest to keep it together.

“The stars…”He mumbled out, and Katie nodded chocking back a sob as she gripped his hand tighter, finishing the saying for him.

“And back…”

He turned back to Pepper who gently ran her hand up his arm “We’re gonna be ok” she said, her voice soft as she glanced at Katie

“We all are.” Katie assured him, sniffing slightly.

His head lolled back once more and Pepper spoke gently, this time her voice cracked. “You can rest now…” Her hand brushed his hair back from his temple as he lay so still, his eyes glanced over Katie’s shoulder to where Steve was stood, stock still, his own tears clouding his vision. He locked eyes with Tony who gave him the faintest of smiles. Steve nodded to him, his chest heaving with sorrow before his brother-in-law’s eyes stopped focussing and his body slumped. Steve saw Pepper bow her head next to Katie, and as his wife glanced down at her hand, still over the top of his, Steve saw the light go out in his chest.

He was gone.

Katie let out a soft sob as she removed her hand gently taking Tony’s with her. Kneeling up, she pressed her forehead against his, scrunching her face up against the physical pain that was brewing in her chest. Pepper leaned up to kiss his face as a silence fell around them, not one single sound coming from the battle field. Pepper dropped her head to Tony’s shoulder and then she too began to cry. Katie placed a soft kiss to his cheek, his skin still warm and bowed her head, listening to Pepper’s sobs through the silence of her own.

Steve limped forward, dropping heavily to his knees besides his wife “Katie…” he said softly, she turned to face him, noticing his eyes were red and the dirt on the parts of his face visible under his helmet were interlined with the tracks his own tears had made. The two looked at each other for a second, before her face crumpled and he wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face into his chest, her small body shaking with silent sobs, hands fisting around the Kevlar of his uniform. Steve lay his cheek against her head, his own tears pouring down his face as he held her to him. His eyes scanned immediate vicinity of the battle field and his eyes fell on Clint in the near distance, dropping to his knee, his head bowed, hand resting on his fist. In front of him T’challa did the same, then Carol, and the Bucky... everyone, all out of respect to their fallen warrior.

Eventually it was Thor that broke the silence, but not by speaking. There was a huge rumble of thunder and Katie jumped, pulling back from Steve slightly, looking upwards as lighting flashed in the sky. The clouds that had descended with Thanos’ ship began to part slowly, a chink of the red sunset falling onto where Tony was sat, chinks of light bouncing off his Iron Man suit.

Katie turned away from Steve and gently reached out with a shaking hand to close Tony’s eyes

“There, he could be sleeping…”she said softly, her hand falling to Pepper’s shoulder. Pepper reached up and gripped it, almost painfully as she turned to her sister-in-law, her face streaming with tears. There was a moment’s pause before Katie wrapped her arms around her, gently stroking her hair.

“We should… we should move him.” Rhodey said, his voice cracking. Steve pulled himself to his feet with a groan and he looked around.

“Has any of the compound survived?” he asked softly, wiping his face as Sam approached him.

“The Hangar area and the labs are totally gone, Cap.” Sam said gently and Steve looked at him properly for the first time in 5 years “But some of the living quarters and part of the training facility seems to be ok.”

“Can we check it’s safe to house people?” Steve said, switching back into Captain mode. “We need to set up somewhere to treat the wounded.”

Sam nodded.

“I’ll come with you.” Rhodey said before he looked at Steve. “I’ll get onto the Emergency Services and Ross too.”

The two men nodded. Rhodey took off straight away whereas Sam paused.

“It’s good to see you Sam.” Steve said, with a soft smile.

“Well like I said, when Captain America needs your help…”

There was a pause, before the two men hugged. Stepping back, with a nod, Sam launched back into the air.

“Steve…”

He spun round to see Bucky, watching him tentatively. For a moment Steve stood still, just observing his friend before he rushed forward into a manly embrace, Steve choking up once more.

“I leave you for what, 5 minutes and you start another war?” Bucky teased gently and Steve gave a watery laugh.

“Try 5 years you Jerk”

“Punk.” Bucky said gently, before he looked down at Katie who was still knelt by her brother, her arm round Pepper. He gave a sigh and dropped his head.

“Sorry.” he offered to Steve, not sure what else he could say.

Steve nodded, wiping his face as he glanced around, the Captain and the Sergeant both surveying the survivors. Banner was stood with Clint and TChalla, the three of them talking with their heads bowed. Clint reached out and patted Banner on the arm as the green man began walking towards where Steve was stood.

“Living quarters are secure…” Rhodey said in Steve’s ear and he nodded.

“Ok, let’s set up some form of command centre, a triage maybe if we need it…” he took a deep breath and turned back to Katie as he dropped to his knee again, a little gentler than last time and he touched her shoulder.

“Honey…” he said softly, wiping away the blood from her temple. “We can move Tony now, take him inside…that is if you’re ready…”

She turned to him, taking a deep breath she nodded. “Pep?”

Pepper gave a sniff and nodded as well.

“I’ll take him.” Banner said, sniffing as he stepped forward. Katie watched as he picked up Tony’s limp body as easily as if it was a rag doll and set off walking through the rubble.

“I don’t want him to be alone.” Pepper said gently from her side before she stood up and walked after Bruce.

Katie took a deep breath. She didn’t want to leave her brother either but she knew there was nothing more to be done for him, he was gone, and there were other people that needed their help. She turned to face Steve who was still knelt next to her. He reached out to gently cup her cheek with his hand, and it was then she noticed the bone-deep almost foot long gash down his forearm.

“Steve…your arm.” she said, taking his wrist in her hand and gently flipping it so she could look at it. “I’ll be fine.” He said.

Knowing better than to try and argue with him, she looked around and asked with a shaky voice. “Did anyone else…” “No.” Steve shook his head, instantly understanding “Few minor injuries but…everyone’s fine.” “Except Tony…” she said, her breath catching as the tears once more flooded from her eyes.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart.” Steve’s voice cracked as he wrapped his arms round her and cradled her close, the pair of them lost in their grief for their fallen brother. *****

The night began to draw in. Thanks to Rhodey, the Emergency services had swamped the area to begin a full clean up and treatment of the walking wounded.

And there were so many people to greet, so many to thank, so fucking many.

Katie’s head was a complete mash. She was utterly numb. Hugs and tears were shared with the people they had lost 5 years ago, thanks were given to those who had stood by them and come to their aid, and then more tears were shed for the two fallen heroes. Eventually, she told Steve she needed a break and he gave her cheek a soft kiss, both of them knowing full well her breakdown would come later. She headed into the compound to find Pepper and her brother before he was taken away by one of Ross’ men, the Secretary having actually proven useful for once.

Strange transported everyone who wasn’t staying at the Compound back home, in the same way he had led them there. He bid goodbye to Steve, shaking his hand, before he himself disappeared.

With a sigh and a glance down at his bandaged arm, Steve’s attention was caught by something shining in the dim light. As he looked harder he noticed that it was a piece of his shield. Bending down, his fingers swept the dust and debris off the large piece of Vibranium. Picking it up, he swallowed slightly, remembering the horror and surprise he had felt as Thanos had hacked through it, as if it had been made of nothing but aluminium.

“So you met Danvers?” a familiar voice cut through his thoughts.

Steve looked over his shoulder to see Fury stood behind him. He stood up and gave the man a weak smile.“Yeah. You were holding out on us all this time.”

“In a fashion” Fury shrugged. “Code red only…”

Steve gave a snort, no in the least bit surprised.

“He's a spy. Captain, he's THE spy.” Tony said, gesticulating with his arms to make a point “His secrets have secrets”

Steve looked down at the fractured piece of his shield which was held in his hand, before he glanced out over the now destroyed compound where the battle had been raging mere hours before and he shook his head.

“You know, all this…bringing everyone back…” he sighed heavily “The victory kinda feels pyrrhic with losing Nat and Tony…”

“They both made their choices.” Fury sighed, softly “Both gave their lives for a cause they believed in.”

“Tony didn’t even want to do this you know.” Steve sighed “He said no at first but I talked him into it…” “Stark never did anything he didn’t want to do.” Fury said, turning to face Steve straight on. “He made a choice. As did Agent Romanoff. And you need to allow them the both the dignity of their choices by not blaming yourself. They clearly thought it was worth it.” With those words the Captain was catapulted way back in time to a conversation in a blown out London bar, the evening he realised he could no longer get drunk.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Peggy looked at him across the table.

“Did you read the reports?” Steve shot back.

“Yes.”

“Then you know that’s not true.”

“You did everything you could. Did you believe in your friend? Did you respect him?” Peggy asked and Steve looked at her, incredulously. Of course he did. She nodded and continued “Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it.”

Only this time, unlike Bucky, there was no second chance. If calling what Bucky went through a second chance was really accurate that is…

“What?” Fury asked as Steve shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

“Nothing.” Steve said, “You just reminded me of someone.” “Anyone in particular?” “Peggy.” Steve sighed, looking around at the ruins of the compound. “Well there are worse people to be likened to.” Fury considered what Steve said for a moment before he changed the subject “I hear you and Nova have been busy these past 5 years, couple of kids...” “Yeah we do, boy and a girl.” Steve smiled as he looked at Fury, the thought of his children temporarily stemming the hollow feeling in his chest at the loss of his brother-in-law and friend. They were safe.

“You should go home.” Fury turned to Steve. “Be with them.”

“Is that an order?” Steve arched an eyebrow looking at him.

“You don’t work for you me anymore, you haven’t done for a long time…in fact I’m not sure you ever really did…” Fury said, smirking slightly. “And I don’t think you never will again.”

He gave Steve a significant look, one which Steve instantly understood. This was Fury’s way of relieving him from his leadership of the Avengers. It was symbolic more than anything because Steve didn’t need releasing from service at all. Fury wasn’t his boss, no one was his boss, but this was closure. It was Fury’s promising Steve he would never be called upon to fight again if that was what he chose.

And he did choose. He was ready to quit. 7 years ago when he had been forced into it he hadn’t been, not really, but now he was. His fight was done. He was buying that fucking holiday home, and they were going to be a normal family, that did normal things, in normal ways. Tony and Nat had both sacrificed their lives, and he wasn’t going to dishonour their memory by putting his family at risk ever again.

Captain America was done.

Steve looked down at his feet, before he glanced up at Fury, and held his hand out. “It’s been an honour.” he said, as Fury shook his hand. “But you’re right. It’s time for me to hang up my shield, for good this time. “ he looked down at the broken metal in his hand. “What’s left of it that is…”

“Or you could pass it down.” Fury said as Steve looked back at him, snorting.

“I think Jamie is a bit too young, and Katie would murder me if I even-”

“I don’t mean to your son.” Fury said, cutting Steve off and giving him significant look. “Captain America has been a symbol of hope for years. And that’s something the world is always gonna need Cap, regardless of who it is. So think about it, maybe there’s someone else worthy of that title and shield, broken or not.”

Steve watched, pondering his words, as Fury gave him a final nod, and turned back towards the destroyed buildings

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avengershumanresources · 5 years

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amor somnus Part 2 of 2

A/N: Completed for @softhairbarnes‘ “I love you 3000″ challenge! Warnings: This is some ridiculous fluffy stuff, no smut or egregious violence. Pairing: Dr. Stephen Strange x Reader Rating: T-ish (Maybe PG?) Word Count: 3,144 Summary: Reader is under a curse. Stephen freaks out. Feelings are felt.

“What did I say?” Stephen grumbled, pacing through his study while Wong settled your still form on a nearby table. “I said there was something off, and everyone decided to brush it off like it was nothing. I should have been more thorough…”

He stood over you, checking your vitals and letting out a low sigh of defeat. Everything was normal. No abnormal temperatures, markings, or physical signs of distress. It was as if you’d fallen into deep sleep and refused to wake up.

“She was fine, and then passed out in the hall…?” he recited back to Wong after hearing the explanation over and over. You hadn’t been out of Stephen’s sight for very long and even then, you’d been with Wong in the kitchen.

There wasn’t anything you could have gotten into in that time frame, and you’d collapsed just outside of his study, suggesting it’d been maybe a minute or two you’d been out of Wong’s sight.

His gut kept telling him it was something to do with the demon, but he didn’t have evidence to support it. In response, his head throbbed when his skin graced yours.

“How are you not feeling that?” Stephen looked toward Wong, taking a few steps away from you and heaving a long sigh. “It’s so… bothersome.”

“More so than a constant string of terrible movie quotes?” his friend joked, and Stephen made a face.

“Those aren’t even that bad,” he commented, his fingers going to his chin while he considered your condition. “Perhaps the curse was meant for me? That’s why it isn’t causing her harm, but I can still sense it?”

“That’s reasonable enough,” Wong agreed. “I’ve heard of this happening with certain spells that link the users. Blood pacts and the such.”

“But with a demon?” Stephen questioned softly, his gaze falling back to where you slept soundly, blissfully unaware of the tension that thickened over the room.

“It’s not my place to comment on your weird relationship, but strong emotions are as natural to the mystic arts as an exploding sun,” he stood up, muttering something about going to Kamar-Taj to speak with the demon and left the room.

Stephen stood in place, emotionally drained of all reason as he lifted one of your hands, clutching it between shaking fingers and running through anything he could have missed.

You were absolutely infuriating, but not in the ways you probably thought.

You were needlessly self sacrificing, this being a prime example, and often it landed you in dangerous situations. This was stressful for Stephen, as while he respected your abilities as a hero and a Master of the Mystic Arts, there was nothing more terrifying to him than the prospect of not seeing your smile at the end of the fight.

“You’re an idiot,” he muttered, giving your hand a frustrated squeeze. If you had allowed him to take the brunt of the spell, as intended, instead of jumping in the way...

He wondered if you would have reacted the same way. He mused over the thought, recalling the time he’d broken his leg during a fight with Mordo. Even after Wong had repaired the break, you refused to leave him alone for days.

By Vishnu were you stubborn…

Yet, he couldn’t imagine his life any other way. He couldn’t imagine the Sanctum without your presence. Already, it was unsettling to him. Stephen hadn’t realized how important the chime of your laugh was... until it was gone.

His stomach dropped when he tried another spell to awaken you, but to no avail.

Nothing. Not even a flinch.

How long could the curse last? Days? Months? Years?

He recalled a fairy tale he read where the princess remained frozen in time the entirety of the spells duration. Would he age and watch you remain unmoving in front of him? A reminder of his failure to protect someone he loved-?

The word caught him by surprise. His heart gave a leap but he swallowed the sensation down and released your hand, summoning the cloak and opening a portal to the Kamar-Taj library.

He needed to get out of his head, he needed to find answers.

(—)

It’s been two weeks since Stephen found you outside of the study.

Two weeks of nothingness.

The demon provided no direction, even when Stephen threatened its life, the creature simply laughed at the sorcerers desperation.

They consulted other masters who knew nothing of curses that bond the victims to eternal slumber. They tried spells and amulets, potions and blood magic, with no results.

You remained as unchanged as the day you’d collapsed.

Stephen wasn’t sleeping. At least, not willingly. He would stay up for days at a time and then drop into a brief nap before continuing the cycle again.

He even purchased a coffee maker and placed it in the study to fuel his late night research.

A little part of him had hoped the smell would have been enough to rouse you. Normally you would sense a Americano a block away.

Wong travelled out of the Sanctum most days to consult with anyone who might have an idea of what was occurring, leaving Stephen to his thoughts and silence.

That was the worst part in all of this. The loss of your floating laughter, the creaks on the hardwood as you moved around the building.

He hadn’t realized the little things he missed. He would have given anything to argue whether Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park was better.

You let out a heavy breath, catching his attention. No movement. Nothing.

He threw fist down on a nearby desk, fumbling through a nearby notebook and shaking his head, at a total loss. He’d probably dug through the entire sanctum library by now. Everything was a mess.

You were definitely going to kill him when you woke up for messing up your hard work.

What would you have suggested? He needed to look at this problem in a different manner. Logic wasn’t working, but he was too sleep deprived to think of alternative actions.

“My ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is...” he muttered, dropping to the chair he’d set up next to your head and sinking his face into his palms. “You wouldn’t be scared, would you? Fear leads to the dark side and all of that. At least that’s probably what you would have told me…”

Though you’d deny it, he’d seen you afraid before. You always fought it down for the task at hand. He respected your tenacity in the face of adversity. There wasn’t anything you wouldn’t do for the ones you cared for, even if you were scared to the core.

How many times had you made the sacrifice play to ensure he could complete a mission?

You hadn’t even hesitated with the demon to step in front of him. No fear. No thought. just pure instinct to protect him. Was it because he was the Sorcerer Supreme?

No, he knew better. The playful grins over the rims of tea mugs and your excitement when he would figure out a complex ritual.

Gods, he missed the hell out of you.

He pulled his head up, watching each slow breath in the rise and fall of your chest.

Were you dreaming? There really was no telling. Your eyes never moved, so perhaps you hadn’t gone into REM, but with magic there wasn’t a way to be completely sure.

He stood dumbly at your side longer than he would have liked to admit. He’d almost forgotten the color of your eyes. Almost. The only reason he hadn’t was that they stared back at him every time he allowed himself a moment of sleep.

Stephen huffed under his breath, reminding himself to get back to work and read over a text Wong had brought back a few hours previously. In his haste, a stray hair fluttered over your features. He froze.

With a shaky hand, he gently tucked it behind your ear, his fingers tracing the edge of your jaw line. You were surprisingly warm to the touch, even if your cheeks were flushed from the curse.

A small jolt shot up his hands with the passive touches and he found himself moving closer, a magnetic pull moving him outside of his control.

It happened without a conscious thought.

One moment he was gazing down at your face.

The next? He brushed a soft kiss across your lips.

Stunned by the action, he took a step back. He was frozen in place, unable to explain the phenomenon that had overcome him. Stephen Strange was not the type act on impulse.

He was just tired.

Turning to resume his research, only a few heartbeats passed before he heard a rustling over his shoulder. Assuming it was Wong returning from his travels, he paid no mind to it and continued to focus on the book in front of him.

“Stephen?” Your tone was meek and confused. He dropped his book and spun around, finding you sitting up on the table. Blankets he’d set over you, were gathered in your lap while you took in the scene. “What on Earth happened?”

The doctor had no words. He lifted your chin and pressed another kiss to you. Despite the dazed expression on your face, you reciprocated in turn, pulling him closer until you both pulled away breathing heavily.

Your eyes searched his face for explanation. It wasn’t like you hadn’t thought about the possibility of… this. You were just happy with a platonic relationship.

“I… I love you,” he finally spoke, his hands still cupped around your cheeks. Slowly a small smile spread across your face at the declaration. You couldn’t help yourself.

“I know.”

Instead of a sigh, he kissed you again, silencing your giggles with more pressing matters.

Part 1

#shb3000wc #stephen strange #doctor strange #doctor stephen strange #reader x strange #dr strange x reader #doctor strange x reader #reader fic #MCU #dr stephen strange #marvel #fanfiction #writing #AO3 #porcelainstorm

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cresentcube · 5 years

Text

SSBU Fic snippet #3

He dreams of a world of light shining from a world unimaginably far from his own; He dreams of a cliffside, bright and shaded, teeming with life and courage.

There's a group of warriors with unimaginable power standing across his vision, a full legion of man and intelligent beasts and more unidentified figures- he feels the urge approach them and express his gratitude, to salute them for their bravery and honor by kneeling and offering his sword; but he knows that It's a vision of reality, future and present and past unmattering under his invisible veil of unconscious.

So he watches.

The leader- No, merely a commander, he realizes, the group having absolutely no sense of rank division except for their personal roles, strong bond of friendship, and occasional rivalry- points his blade against the sky and offers a "We can each take about ten." that's followed by a chuckle from some sword wielders by his side and a mirthful retort from two orange and blue figures that replies with a "Yeah, we're totally going to kill ten of those things by covering them with ink and kicking them hard, sure."

One of the mages- Seemingly royal, guessing from her garments- steps out and declares that there would be no fleeing from their side, earning a cacophony of cheers, friendly agreements and some reluctant affirmatives.

He can't help but feel at ease surrounded by their visibly evident comfort around each other; he settles to a group of children surrounded by a wall of discreetly protective adults with a small sense of childlike glee, watching a blonde child meekly asking a rowdy set of twins to turn around and face the-

And that's when he finally sees the thing they are fighting against.

The celestial being floats Idly across a miniscule cliff, occupied with a group of beings so utterly powerless against its will; and as the exact second the realization that there would be absolutely zero chance of anyone survive to tell the tale hits him,

"WE CAN'T WIN THIS! RUN!"

A desperate plea of someone that knew the fact that absolutely every possible warning was too late anymore,

And It's over.

In a fraction of eternity, it destroys the world.

It's not the end of the world, surprizingly.

It's the utter destruction of a world.

The sheer force of blinding power blows away like they are nothing more than a thin layer of dust across the table, atomizing half- no, almost all- of the defenceless group in a span of seconds.

He sees too little and too much, unconsciously hugging himself as his vision crashes into chaotic shards of ended lives:

The Hero and the Mercenary is the first to fall, the royal mage following shortly after as her goddess's protection fails against the light hellbent on destruction; the commander is struck in the place of a man wielding a golden sword, his effort proving meaningless as the light gathers effortlessly even before the man gets the chance to shake off the utter shock and horror of his gaze.

A King succumbs in a blind effort to save his child, his roar of fire disintegrating as the same moment as a Battler who refused to leave his three partners in the threat of death; the Prince succumbs despite his father's effort, tearfully searching for his father until the last second he burns.

A broken twin, elder with curling fire, standing with unbridled anger and determination; the royalty he served had fallen from the first wave of destruction, and his brother with cackling thunder had been the one who took the blow in his place- his fire crackles with the pure flames of revenge, two streaks of inferno roaring across the air until there's nothing but floating ashes left in his footsteps.

A Tactitian and a Warrior jumps in front of a knight at the same time, sheilding the blow that was aimed for her with no second thought; the Knight merely has the time to desperately grab at the only remains of her family - A discarded tome and a abandoned blade - and whisper a tearful "Take me to Father, I beg of you." as she lowers her gaze to disintegrate with the tome in her arms.

The light simply evaporates the rock where the orange and blue ink is melded on; A grizzled soilder pulls a set of children under a flimsy cover of a cardbard box, determined to shield them from the fear of inevitable death; A goddess sacrifices herself for her cohorts, only for the twin set of angels fall to their demise as the light shatters her protection like glass; A being defter than the winds tries to save a soul, only to lose his own altogether.

They burn, one by one, taken by surprise or anger or simple resignation; there's less than a half left after the eternal fraction of a second, then a handful, then-

A boy stands alone across a bloodless calamity.

An Oracle, he realizes with a sad finalty.

An Oracle who was defenceless against utter destruction of everyone he loved; his gift of seeing over flow of time bending into a curse against fate utterly unchangeable.

A group of such powerful warriors definitely would have had an Oracle in their legion, he wistfully muses, watching the boy jump across with graceful ease; he wonders whether if his warnings was ignored by it's sheer bizzareness, or whether it was simply a vision came too late.

There's a chaotic mix of utter regret and despaired acceptance pooling in his eyes- he holds his blade in a way more like a dying soldier clutching a rosary rather than a warrior wielding a sword, his visions aiding him to dodge incoming steaks of light well enough to be in the handful of survivors from the previously crowded group of warriors.

He levels his blade against the sky, towards a shooting star streaking hapzardly across multiples of blinding destruction- and he breathes, and he breathes, and he cries out a "MONADO, SPEED!" with such utter desperateness that it sounds like a plea against the almighty rather than a cast for a spell.

The star glows green for a fraction of a second, then shoots away into a world unknown with a pleasant sound that reminds him of silver bells and a shatter of stardust; the Oracle sags in visible relief, softly kneeling against the floor as the exhaustion finally takes over.

He turns his head to the direction that the light is fated to strike, the action coincidentally locking their eyes- a stare of complete resignation against his own, a blank broken blue staring across the carnage of a bloodless massacre.

A streak of shattered prism;

Galeem sings, gracefully clear, hideously beautiful.

And It's over.

Just like that.

#super smash bros ultimate #super smash ultimate #super smash bros #world of light #kirby #persona 5 #dragon quest #I call this #Desolate lament for a calamity #Basically world of light centered around DLC and Kirby

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loquaciousquark · 6 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E26 (July 17, 2018)

Tonight’s guests: Matt Mercer, Ashly Burch, and Taliesin Jaffe. Heck, I’m nervous for all three of them.

Announcements: Critical Role will be at the San Diego Comic Con on 7/21 in 6BCF at 6:30pm. The panel will be aired next Tuesday during the TM time slot. They’ll also be at NYCC in October!

CR Stats! Episode 26 had 14 natural 20s, the most of the new campaign. This was in no small part due to Ashly borrowing Tal’s dice because she doesn’t own her own dice bag. There’s so much dice karma happening in that sentence I don’t even know how to handle it. It ties with episodes 55, 61, and 100. Keg has the most natural 20s of any single-episode guesting with 4. Molly got the M9′s 100th kill. He leads the party with 21 kills in all. “Hot murder streak.”

We’ve seen seven of Molly’s cards so far: the silver dragon, anvil, serpent, eye, moon, shadow, and the chariot. Tal says the serpent may be the same as the dragon, but he’ll check.

This was Ashly’s first time guesting on the show proper--previously she’d only been on oneshots. Biggest difference? “There were less people dying on the oneshots!”

Matt and Brian both take a moment to applaud Ashly’s characterization and sticking to the true roleplaying of her character over any min-maxing of the dice she might have done otherwise. Tal says the math would have come out either way as it was. It’s the first time she’s ever done something like that in a D&D game.

Matt always prefers roleplaying over what’s strategically optimal, especially since the moments where you falter and fail often lead to the true “hero” arc for your character. “It was very wild and unique to watch the cocksure exterior crumble.”

Everyone’s been kind to Ashly directly since The Incident. It’s only whispers she’d heard indirectly.

Tal already hadn’t slept the night before; he didn’t that night either, just curled up and thought until dawn. He realized in panic that he’d never come up with a backup character as Matt had asked months ago; he has rolled a new one since then, but he spent most of the weekend coping with making a new character in three days after spending six months on Molly. Bless.

Brian woke Ashley up during the live show when he heard Taliesin say “my Blood Maledict’s going to kill me” so that they could watch the rest together. He realized that Matt was hesitating a lot more than usual as things went on, that Matt seemed to be hinting more and more strongly that the impending encounter was about to go very badly for the M9.

Matt designed the Iron Shepherds to be a very dangerous, powerful group when they are all together (as they were that night). He’d planned for several options: the M9 following and never catching up, waiting to gather intel until Shady Creek, catching up but only observing from a distance, and for the actual battle itself. He tried to give them clues about how dangerous they would actually be: that there were more than five enemies, that Ashly’s character knew how dangerous they were, that they were prepared and tough-looking. However, he never wants to be too heavy-handed in guiding the players’ hands. His intent with the battle was to show some surprises and that the M9 didn’t know what they were dealing with, and had hoped that the M9 would take the hint and back out sooner than they did.

Brian could tell that Matt was very visibly affected as the fight went on, which Matt points out was in part due to how late it was. He allowed the battle to occur because he didn’t plan for it to be a long one (the Iron Shepherds were going to speed away...until the M9 dropped the tree across the road). Then he had no idea what was going to happen during the battle. He adds that DMs sometimes end up with encounters harder than they’d plan, and it was nervewracking because as much as he cares for these characters, he also has a responsibility to be true to the strength of the enemies and the realities of the dice. There were a lot of ways the fight could have still gone, but didn’t (parlay, discussion, more ambushing, better dice rolls).

If Keg hadn’t stepped up and used her relationship specifically with Lorenzo to halt the battle, it would have gotten way, way worse for the M9, including the kidnapping of more of the M9 to be sold.

Lorenzo has a specific vanity and enjoyment of power over other people, and Keg’s intervention played straight into that. It’s the only reason that encounter didn’t go more poorly.

Some of the Iron Shepherds’ background information was known by Keg; some was deliberate misleading on the part of the Shepherds to keep Keg in the dark.

Keg wasn’t happy about Caleb’s charming, but Keg knew there was no way she could take on the Shepherds on her own. She has a facade of being cocksure and proud but is truly a coward, and knew that taking them on alone would kill her. The charming was a “necessary evil.”

Taliesin knew the risks of the Maledict but planned to give Lorenzo disadvantage, hopefully dodge the next two attacks, and escape as soon as Lorenzo engaged with Beau. Then the dice came up with the rest of his HP and that was that.

Matt did in fact roll the Golden Snitch for the bad guys this game. Brian: “Let’s not give him the most powerful die in the game next time.” Tal: “Oh, it’s going to go mysteriously missing any day now.”

Lorenzo was not visibly afraid at any point during this fight. Matt declines to elaborate further.

GIF of the Week! u/rndmanswrs4rndmqstns from Reddit, for a gif of the battle map from last episode superimposed with a tragic news ticker footage of the slaughter.

Molly’s final words were an easy choice. “He’s not complicated in that direction, and his feelings on violence and death are easy.” Tal says it didn’t fully hit him until hours later. Still, Molly never really felt ownership of his own self; it all still felt borrowed. He knew death would come eventually and probably earlier rather than later. “As ways to go existed, I think that was a very Molly way to go.”

Matt thinks these reminders of mortality are important...depending on the type of story you’re trying to tell. Their game needs the stakes of having the risk of death, although that’s not what would be fun for every game and should not always be on the table. However, they know each other so well that he feels it’s an important reminder that there are consequences for their actions and that it suits the world they live in. Tal points out that the same thing is true for so many types of fiction: “they’re only fine because they’re not real.” Sometimes these stories happen in a vacuum and the hero is immortal...and sometimes, as in their game, they’re not. Matt thinks it’s important to be able to grieve and feel catharsis for even a fictional character (and cites a particular death from C1 as an example for himself). Matt: “In a weird, macabre way, I’m excited to see where the story goes from here.” Brian: “Me, too.” Tal: “Me, too. I mean, at first I was panicking, but now I have a pretty good idea.”

Ashly initially panicked when Matt revealed the Iron Shepherds’ abilities (since she thought she’d misremembered what Matt had said), but then felt even more justified in her RP. Everything felt worse because so many people were gone, including Laura and Travis. “I felt like the babysitter who dropped the baby.” She felt the whole time during the fight that they shouldn’t be engaging the way they were.

Molly’s final thoughts were “easy and simple and base...the immense, reasonable, and wonderfully sustaining emotion of ‘well, fuck you, too,’ which is the righteous and more reasonable cousin to ‘fuck you.’“ No fear, no panic.

The Iron Shepherds existed as part of the worldbuilding in the northern region and were intended to be a later issue, but Matt wove them into the story soon since Laura & Travis had to leave. He wasn’t intending for them to become such an immediate, intense antagonistic force, but DMs have to adapt to the situations and this one felt natural.

Cut to Dani Cam, who had a very hard Thursday night ( :( ). She asks Ashly how Keg, someone very self-preservational, decided to sacrifice herself for the M9. Ashly remembered that in their discussions, Matt characterized Lorenzo as someone who liked to make examples of people, and thought that if she prostrated herself in front of him, he might maim her but not kill her, which turned out to be accurate--so it was still fairly self-preservational on her part. They’ll find out more next week. Ashly will be with us the next two sessions and will be joining the crew at GenCon! Heck yes!!

As much as Tal likes Matt’s Lingering Soul class, he would never consider it as an option for Mollymauk. “There’s no version of Molly coming back as a ghost that doesn’t end with him desperately wanting it to be over.” Matt designed it more narratively to be a person whose sheer force of will keeps them from accepting the moment of death due to unfinished business or the pure determination to live...which they both feel is the exact opposite of Molly.

Matt liked how Taliesin showed that all personalities can play the Blood Hunter, not just the edgy grimdark type.

Fanart of the Week! @jesttothenines, with this pain. Ow.

If Molly hadn’t run to Lorenzo, Beau would have likely been his example instead. Molly was an easier target, though, because he was closer and more hurt. If Beau had been unconscious instead (and not dead) when Keg made her plea, Lorenzo might have asked what she was willing to trade to get Beau back.

This is the second of Tal’s characters Matt’s killed. The first one was a mad monk who liked to set things on fire who was eaten by ghouls.

Dani: “Why can’t this campaign be happy? And fairies?!” Matt: “We had the fairies last campaign in the Feywild! They murdered the pixies! They sided with the werewolves!”

After last campaign, Tal and Dani hugged while Dani cried pretty hard. Then Tal went home and cried himself. He left the table during the episode because he was on the verge of having a panic attack and couldn’t handle watching everyone else panic as well.

Ashly thought she was going to have a limb lopped off at minimum when Lorenzo had her kneel. She didn’t expect to be let go unscathed.

Molly would have considered his death “worth it” if he knew it meant Beau was spared. In a way, it helps that he now has an “eternal one-up” on her. Matt: “That’s very Molly of him.”

The persuasion success from Keg was a chief reason Lorenzo spared them, but it was also because the rest of the M9 were insignificant gnats to him. Keg’s reaction was the only one he cared about, so as soon as she gave in he’d gotten what he wanted. Then he just wanted to set the example and spread the word.

Ashly hadn’t meant to let them know she’d been part of the slavers until Shady Creek, but actually likes how it came out.

Matt really doesn’t think it was an overall bad plan. It was just a few strategic missteps, some very bad dice rolls, and an enemy that outmatched them.

Dani recalls to us all that Molly had told us it would be a cursed trip.

Molly’s parting advice to the M9: Tal declines to think about it much in depth. “Life’s short, eat a bagel. Join the circus. Lighten up. Life’s short; do something to a bagel.”

The illusion that cloaks the cages under the tarp means that even if the missing three of the M9 are in there, they wouldn’t have seen Molly’s death.

Molly is no different in Taliesin’s head than he was last week, which is why he's having a slightly easier time with this than everyone else. “He’s no different for me, I just don’t get to trot him out on Thursday.” He was based off of several friends, some who have passed away, and several experiences he had as a teenager and places and people he knew that profoundly affected him. He mentions a song off the soundtrack for Wristcutters: A Love Story, since that movie had a lot of “good carnie family vibes” about weird people taking care of each other. There was an archetype in film that was very much Molly which Tal hasn’t seen in a long time, and he explains: there’s a way of living a life where you don’t give a fuck about what people think but you do give a fuck about people. He never needed to be fixed and he never needed permission for anything. He’s not Iron Man where you’re waiting to see him become a good person, and he was never a creature of profound change like Captain America, where you watch to see the good they make on the world; his unfinished business was in each interaction he had with the people in the world and making them deal with him, but making sure that dealing with him was always a positive and kind experience. Matt gets very emotional at the description. Me too, friend.

His favorite part of playing him was being a teenager version of himself; the art and cosplay were spectacular. And the terrible accent, of course.

Brian takes a moment to thank Taliesin for making memorable characters and memorable choices that have a bigger impact than what only they can see. He looked at all the tributes for Molly this week because he wanted to get a feel for how the community was feeling so that they could hone the questions for the show. The character meant a lot to a lot of different types of people, and it’s a testament to Tal’s heart that people connected so much with this character.

Brian, Matt, and Tal are all crying at this point. Ashly starts reactive-crying. Dani’s crying on the Dani Cam. This is AWFUL.

After Dark: QQ Edition

We open laughing (relieving change) since everyone’s hurled obscenities at Brian just before the show went live. Matt enjoys being on the other side of that for once.

Beau is the member of the M9 who’s best earned the right to wear Molly’s coat. “She’s the one who needs to lighten up. Caleb’s never going to lighten up and that’s okay. Jester doesn’t need it. Fjord doesn’t need it. That’s not Nott’s problem.”

Keg is super interested in Nott’s never-ending flask. “I’m abandoning this super dramatic narrative. I’m going for the flask.”

A TPK was possible if the M9 kept throwing themselves at the Iron Shepherds, but Matt knew they were smarter than that and would either flee or give themselves up as Keg did. “It relied on the players’ actions at that point; that’s why I was so nervous. I was like, this is the scenario I built and now we have to see it through.”

Tal honestly doesn’t remember what Liam said to him when he left the table right after him. It was mostly a “well, that happened,” and Liam just refilled his drink before going back to the table.

Tal went home after the show, cried in bed, and then the sun came up and he realized he had no idea for a new character. He spent so much time working on Molly that he never got around to making anything else. He came up with his next idea in about thirteen-fourteen hours, and he’s very happy with it. Matt points out he was explicitly clear about how they needed to come up with backup characters when the campaign started. “These low levels are dangerous!”

Everyone addresses the new studio in terms most respectful and patient, asking it to be benevolent now that it’s had its blood sacrifice.

Keg’s going to grow a vengeance beard.

Brian talks about Ashley’s reaction on the couch; she leaned forward on her knees, looked over at Brian, and said, “I’m gonna kill that motherfucker.” Brian said, “Yeah, you probably will.” They now have a formidable villain for the early campaign.

Tal can’t even answer the question about how Yasha will react when she finds out. “Oh, no. Oh, no.”

Matt and Brian have a retrospective moment of panic about how good it is Yasha wasn’t there that night, since she’s a rage-based barbarian. Matt, wide-eyed: “There would have been no parlay. Oh, no. Next question.”

Keg’s favorite moments were the secret-sharing with Nott and the conversation with Beau. Matt loved their meeting: “When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. It was beautiful.”

Brian’s first desire after the show was to rage-tweet Matt Colville. He, apparently, refrained.

Matt thinks the threat of death should be present and played out when it happens, but he never likes playing DM-vs.-player.

Tal smiled when Molly was being killed because that was both Molly’s reaction, and because Tal himself is a nervous smiler.

Matt doesn’t consider this revenge for Tal killing him off so soon in the Vampire oneshot; Tal reminds us that he knew Matt knew about the very specific subclass he’d given Matt and they both knew what would happen when he went outside.

Tal and Matt reminisce about early PC deaths. “What was that, 2012?” Ashly: “Aw, you guys have killed each other so much!”

They’re asked about the best lie they’ve ever told. Tal convinced someone a nonsense Pirate Queen existed; Matt doesn’t really lie, but when he senses gullibility he doubles down until reality’s rearranged.

Tal started wearing black when Jim Henson died...except that he forbade black at his funeral. The camera zooms in on Tal’s iridescent loafers & his peacock paisley shirt: “This is Molly’s funeral shirt.”

Ashly will definitely be back on Thursday; Tal will be back as soon as the narrative allows it. He’s prepared for Thursday if it works out.

And that’s where it wraps up tonight. Be good to each other; it’s almost Thursday.

#critical role #talks machina #critical role spoilers #talks machina spoilers #long post for ts

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imagitory · 5 years

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So I saw Endgame! [spoilers]

To save your feed from nasty spoilers, here's a cut!

Overall, this movie was half-epic awesome and half...well, not.

The Good!

+As always, it was so great to see all of our favorite Avengers interacting and working together, especially at the end. Nebula and Tony playing games in space -- Natasha's friendships with Steve and Clint -- Scott fawning over Steve -- Tony and Steve teaming up to get the tesseract and more of Hank Pym's formula -- Nebula connecting with her past self and Gamora -- PETER REUNUTING WITH HIS PAPA TONY -- these characters and their bonds are what make all of these movies. There are a few I feel that got a bit overlooked, but to be fair, there are so, so many that it's not hard to see why not all of them could be in the spotlight.

+All of the action was well-choreographed and executed. It never felt one-note and it never dragged, at least for me.

+STEVE USING MJOLNIR, HELLZ YES. I cheered like an idiot when that happened.

+Even though I saw it coming, Tony's sacrifice was still well-written and not only fit his character but also the story. RDJ couldn't have asked for a better exit from the Marvel film franchise.

+Scott's reappearance after five years was great too! His reunion with Cassie got me kind of emotional -- such a proud daddy!

+As much as I do have problems with Steve's ending (which I'll come back to), I liked that it saluted the Falcon taking over the mantle of Captain America as he does in the comics.

+That whole bit with all of the ladies charging in after Captain Marvel -- total girl power, man!

+Tony and his daughter Morgan's interactions made me laugh -- who knew Tony could be such a good daddy? I always support good daddies. (And "I love you 3000"? My heart.)

+Thanos accessing Nebula's memories and thoughts because the technology in both her past and future selves are on the same network was actually kind of clever, and I loved how Gamora decided to fight with future!Nebula for the hope that they could really be sisters like she claims.

+All of the comments about Steve's ass made me laugh so hard. Looks like it's canon now, guys: Tony has given Steve's ass and what flatters it notable attention.

+Hey, Carol. Nice haircut. ❤️

The Not-So-Good...

+I must admit, half the reason I dreaded seeing this movie as well as Infinity War was that I knew that any deaths in Infinity War would inevitably be completely undone in Endgame, effectively canceling out any fatal stakes you could assign to the Cinematic Universe. It's something I hate about Marvel and DC comics, that in their long history, there are so many ways to bring characters back from the dead that you either don't believe they're actually dead or are left wondering why they're still dead. At least in Harry Potter, Harry surviving the Killing Curse (both times) was a fluke -- something that only came about by extreme chance that most people wouldn't have, something that could only have happened to Harry. That makes it so we still feel something when people die, and therefore care about what's going to happen. But yeah, sure enough, all the deaths in Infinity War basically get undone, thanks to some time travel and magic stones. It unfortunately almost had to be like this, if this story was going to be told, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't like that aspect of the story. This invalidation of stakes wouldn't hurt as much if this was the last film Marvel ever made, but really, with how much money Marvel could make with the remaining cast of characters, I sort of doubt that.

+The filmmakers try to give some logical explanation to the time travel thing, but in the end, thanks to Steve's decision (which I'll get into), it's kind of thrown into question again. The idea was that they wouldn't be able to change the future by going back in time...and yet I can't see Steve not trying to do anything to hinder Bucky's suffering in the past, if he was back there. Yes, maybe it wouldn't change future!Bucky, but it would still be his best friend. And Steve's return to civilian life in the past would surely influence some things, wouldn't it? Wouldn't him living a life back then involve him getting a job, earning accolades for his past service, making friends, having children...anything? The alternate universe scenario proposed by the Ancient One would inevitably have to happen if Steve stayed behind, which was the whole reason he supposedly went back to put the stones where they were in the first place!!

+Okay, and now finally what I've been leading up to...Steve. As appropriate as Tony's ending was, Steve's was just as inappropriate in my mind. Steve not only had gotten over Peggy in previous films, where he got to speak with her as an old woman and make peace with the life they never got to have, but Steve was actively moving on. He had been dating Sharon Carter. He had developed close friendships with the other Avengers. He had an entire scene where he preached to others the value of dealing with grief productively and growing despite it...only to run back to the past as soon as he got the chance? And this isn't even touching how terrible of a friend this makes Steve, leaving Bucky behind and not even bothering to talk to him about what he was doing. Steve barely even spoke to Bucky in this movie: even after Bucky came back from the dead, Steve never had a proper reaction. They never fought side by side, exchanged affectionate one-liners, hugged, nothing. And this is Bucky we're talking about, the guy who Steve let beat him within an inch of his life -- who Steve protected from Tony -- who Steve openly and painfully grieved during Infinity War. And Bucky not only is left out in the cold by Steve, but Bucky thinks the Falcon should be the sole person to talk to him after his decision becomes clear. Bucky should have confronted Steve. He should have been angry. He should've asked why Steve didn't ask him to come too, didn't ask if he wanted to. Bucky deserved a happy life just as much as Steve did, after all the horrible things they went through. Why did Steve deserve to go back in time and live happily, and not Bucky? Why was Steve okay with the fact that he wouldn't see his best friend for decades? Why was Steve comfortable with the thought that Bucky would have to watch his best friend die of old age not long after just fighting side by side with him? Not only does this ending break Steve's character, but it doesn't match his arc at all. He was adapting well to the present -- he was growing, he was evolving. And yet his ending ended up being running back to when things were simpler, running back to the past like a coward instead of embracing the future. FUCK. THAT.

+I really didn't care for either Clint or Thor's development in the five year time jump. For Clint, as much as I like the parallels the script made between him and Natasha in regards to the awful things they've done, I still have difficulty seeing someone who was so devoted to S.H.I.E.L.D. being a ruthless, lawless, out-of-control assassin, even if he did lose his whole family. But Thor's characterization was so much worse. Thor has always been funny in the movies, as are a lot of the characters, but something I always loved about him in the series was how he balanced humor, sincere emotions and being a total bad ass. In this film...yeah, he's almost entirely there for laughs. He had a few bad-ass moments, but he didn't get the chance for much sincere pathos, when he kind of deserved some. The loss of Loki and how Thor dealt with it is never really addressed after the five-year time jump. Loki in general actually doesn't get addressed after he gets the tesseract either -- that almost inevitably will have to be a spin-off, but...hey, yeah, if Loki's still unaccounted for, then Bruce's promise to not let any alternate timelines pop up is already going to be broken, isn't it? The God of Mischief has a hold of the tesseract.

+As much as I liked the thought of Bruce being able to balance out the two sides of himself, I preferred the execution from what little I've seen of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, where Hulk is the dominant personality but listens to Bruce more often and is therefore smarter than he was previously. In this version Bruce almost seems out of touch with his Hulk side when he tries to fight at first, even if he's now green all the time. It's just less entertaining, and seeing how Bruce evolved to the point where Banner and Hulk are interacting peacefully could've been an interesting thing to show over the course of several movies rather than something just alluded to after a time jump.

+Does everyone's vision of retirement involve moving out to a farm? Like, seriously, both Thanos and Tony do this. Thanos is almost comical, but Tony's just doesn't make sense to me. He just dropped his whole company, all of his weapons, protecting the world, everything?? Tony is a total control freak who became a superhero because other people were using his tech in a way he didn't approve of, yet he leaves his company and tech presumably in someone else's hands to raise his daughter out in the country? That just seems kind of unlike Tony.

So yeah, this film definitely is feels-worthy! I can see why there are so many strong reactions to it. It was a rather fun ride a lot of the time, but I admit, as an ending for quite a few of these characters, it wasn't all it could've been, in my opinion. Not a terrible way to end the Marvel Cinematic Universe's long run, but it's not an ending I'll have much fun revisiting. Once is more than enough.

Overall Grade: C

#marvel #the avengers #endgame #endgame spoilers #marvel spoilers #avengers spoilers #opinion #reviews #oh boy here i go

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flightfoot · 5 years

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Apollo’s Defense Mechanisms

Apollo uses quite a few defense mechanisms in TOA, and is implied to have been using them for millennia. Indeed, TOA seems to be systematically breaking these defense mechanisms, forcing him to reevalauate himself. Most of these I’ve alluded to in the past, especially in Apollo has always been the sort of person who fights for his friends - he’s just buried that part of himself for millennia and Apollo’s pretty terrible at reading people’s thoughts and emotions at first, but becomes an expert at it over the course of the books, once he starts dropping his facades, but I haven’t looked at them in-depth, or named them for the most part.

Repression

Basically, this defense mechanism states that a person unconsciously relegates a memory, thought, or emotion to the subconscious, because it would cause distress if recalled consciously. They, themselves are unaware they are doing this.

Since this is unconscious, this particular defense mechanism requires more speculating and assumptions than subsequent ones do. I believe that Apollo has been repressing some of thoughts and conclusions he’s forced to acknowledge in TOA, though it could also be due to some garden-variety denial. They can be hard to tell apart at times.

One of the major things I believe Apollo is repressing, is his knowledge of what a human life is worth. He KNOWS that mortals matter, since he cared about his mortal lovers, like Daphne and Hyacinthus, and his mortal children, like the (previously) mortal Asclepius. He’s seemed to continue to fool himself about how much mortals matter though. Pre-series and threw the beginning of The Hidden Oracle, he considered demigods to be fodder to throw at problems, like in The Hidden Oracle, when he’s told that The Oracle of Delphi isn’t working, and he proposes dispatching “ some of you talented fodder—I mean heroes—” (29).

There’s also that time at lunch, when he’s scouting out top-tier demigods.

I studied the campers, hoping to spot some potential servants…I mean new friends. Gods always like to keep a few strong veteran demigods handy to throw into battle, send on dangerous quests, or pick the lint off our togas. (64)

He’s unconcerned with demigods’ safety here, and doesn’t seem to consider their desires at all. You can see this is in action in Percy Jackson and The Singer of Apollo, when Apollo sends Percy and Grover on a quest, without seeming to care what they think of it at all.

“we’re kind of off duty, Lord Apollo. It’s Grover’s birthday.”

“Happy birthday!” Apollo said. “I’m so glad you’re taking the day off. That means you two have time to help me with a small problem!”

Later in their conversation with Apollo, Apollo’s pretty upfront about what he thinks of heroes.

“Besides, this is what heroes are for.”

“Running the gods’ errands,” I muttered.

“Exactly.”

He also apparently wouldn’t care about demigods slaughtering each other in battle in the past, and would use it as entertainment.

When I was a god, I would have delighted to leave the mortal heroes to fend for themselves. I would have made popcorn and watched the bloodbath on Mount Olympus, or simply caught the highlight reel later. (TDP 283)

And yet, it doesn’t take much to break him out of this mindset. As soon as Meg goes missing, Apollo is distraught:

I retrieved Meg’s swords from the mud. Instantly, they changed into gold rings - so small, so easily lost, like a mortal life. I may have cried. I tried to break my ridiculous combat ukulele, but the celestial bronze instrument defied my attempts. Finally, I yanked off the A string, threaded it through Meg’s rings, and tied them around my neck.

“Meg, I will find you,” I muttered. (231)

He’s really thinking about mortal lives here, not just Meg’s specifically. Only a few hours later, when Nero’s attempting to burn down the forest and everyone in it, a bunch of dryads emerge from the trees and give their lives to stop the fire. Apollo makes a realization here, one that he makes so easily and fully, I think it’s been in the back of his head for most of his life, but he’s refused to acknowledge:

Then it occurred to me how many times I had asked for sacrifices, how many heroes I had sent to their deaths. Had they been any less noble and courageous than these dryads? Yet I had felt no remorse when I sent them off on deadly tasks. I had used them and discarded them, laid waste to their lives to build my own glory. I was no less of a monster than Nero. (168)

This thought was finally allowed into Apollo’s consciousness. He just couldn’t keep up the repression, not now, not after everything’s that’s happened. He embraces the knowledge, as discomforting as it is.

Denial

Apollo makes several realizations in The Hidden Oracle that he denies immediately afterwards. For instance, he’s in denial about Percy’s feelings about him. He can see how Percy feels, but he refuses to believe it.

If I didn’t know how much Percy Jackson adored me, I would have sworn he was about to punch me in my already broken nose. (26)

Apollo’s also quite upset about the thought that he might be treated as a mortal, with everything that comes with it:

Percy frowned. “Apollo, if you’re really mortal, like, one hundred percent mortal, can you even get in to Camp Half-Blood?”

The seven-layer dip began to churn in my stomach. “Please don’t say that. Of course I’ll get in. I have to.”

“But you could get hurt in battle now…” Percy mused. “Then again, maybe monsters would ignore you because you’re not important?”

“Stop!” My hands trembled. Being a mortal was traumatic enough. The thought of being barred from camp, of being unimportant…No. That simply could not be.

“I’m sure I’ve retained some powers,” I said. “I’m still gorgeous, for instance, if I could just get rid of this acne and lose some flab. I must have other abilities!” (40-41)

He continues some of this denial into The Dark Prophecy, though not to the same extent. He’s extremely irritated at Britomartis for sending him and Calypso to get her griffins, and giving only moderate praise in return:

“Apollo, I must admit you did moderately well retrieving my griffins.”

“Moderately well?” I bit back a few nasty comments. I wondered if demigods ever felt the need to restrain themselves when facing ungrateful gods like these. No. Surely not. I was special and different. And I deserved better treatment. (167)

He makes the realization that “this is how demigods feel”, but the thought is uncomfortable for him, so he denies it. Not very convincingly, though. And even in The Hidden Oracle, he realized how in denial he was, particularly when he saw it mirrored in Meg:

Her denial was so complete, so irrational, I realized there was no way I could argue with her. She reminded me painfully of myself when I fell to earth—how I had refused to accept my new reality. Without Meg’s help, I would’ve gotten myself killed. Now our roles were reversed. (304)

Denial may be one of his most common defense mechanisms, but even it fails eventually. By the end of The Dark Prophecy, he’s pretty much abandoned it.

Cognitive Distortion

I’ve talked about Apollo’s cognitive distortions before, like the other defense mechanisms I’ve listed, but I didn’t use the correct terminology before. Cognitive distortions are a general term for a thought pattern that causes the person to view the world in a distorted, inaccurate manner.

Apollo’s major cognitive distortions tend to center around remembering himself to be more important and more well-loved than he really is, sometimes minimizing other’s roles in the process. He seems to be consciously trying to reinforce this thought pattern, considering his “standard motivational speech”:

I took a deep breath. Then I did my usual motivational speech in the mirror: “You are gorgeous and people love you!”

I went out to face the world. (31)

He uses this technique multiple times. He uses it again later on in The Hidden Oracle, as a way to stave off his anxiety:

If I hadn’t let Python take over Delphi, if I’d paid more attention to the other ancient Oracles, if I hadn’t lost my divinity—

Stop it, Apollo, I scolded myself. You’re beautiful and everyone loves you.

But it was becoming increasingly difficult to believe that. My father, Zeus, did not love me. The demigods at Camp Half-Blood did not love me. Python and the Beast and his comrades at Triumvirate Holdings did not love me. It was almost enough to make me question my self-worth. (208)

He’s tied his self-worth to others’ perception of him, and then manipulated how he thinks others see him, in an effort to boost his sense of self worth. He attempts to use this in the Burning Maze as well, give him enough of a sense of self to stave off Medea’s attack. It doesn’t work.

“Every bit of my willpower bent instinctively to keeping myself in one piece. I was Apollo, wasn’t I? I… I was beautiful and people loved me. The world needed me!” (p. 372).

Him feeling like he NEEDS people to love and need him in order to justify his existence, to tell himself that he has worth, helps explain why he feels the need to be adored so much. It’s why he fools himself into thinking he has Percy’s adoration and respect.

He also minimizes others contributions in favor of emphasizing his own, so that he comes off as better by comparison.

I couldn’t quite remember what Percy Jackson was talking about. During the war with Gaea, I had been focused mostly on my own fabulous exploits. But I suppose he and his friends had undergone a few minor hardships. (32)

Apollo didn’t really do much of anything during the War, except hide out on Delos and show up at the Parthenon. But he wants to tell himself that he did, because it makes him feel more important, more needed.

He apparently exaggerates quite a bit, actually. When he’s reading about himself in some of Will’s books, he notes that:

Normally this would have been a happy task. I am, after all, a fascinating subject. This time, however, I gained no satisfaction from my glorious exploits. They all seemed like exaggerations, lies, and…well, myths. (183)

We don’t get details about how these accounts are distorted, exactly, but we do know that Apollo has a history of doing so. Especially with Python. Python nearly killed him, but he told storytellers that killing him was super quick and easy... because that’s what he WANTED it to be. It’s not JUST about making himself sound better. Talking about how he struggled valiantly against his mighty foe would arguably have come across as a more impressive feat. But that’s not what he WANTED to have happened. He WANTS to have been able to have easily defeated Python. He doesn’t want to remember how close he came to being destroyed. Apollo’s distortions are his way of rearranging reality to be more to his liking, even if it means lying to himself.

Psychological Projection

Projection is basically taking your own unwanted thoughts and feelings and assigning them to another person. Apollo indulges in this one occasionally, though it’s rarer than the other defense mechanisms I’ve listed.

When talking to Percy, he projects his own egotism onto him:

I wanted to get back to talking about my problems. I was impatient with Percy for turning the conversation to himself. Sadly, I have found this sort of self-centeredness common among demigods. (34)

It always disappointed me when mortals put themselves first and failed to see the big picture—the importance of putting me first—but I had to remind myself that this young man had helped me out on many previous occasions. (35)

Projecting his feelings onto Percy helps him to avoid acknowledging his own feelings, his own egotism. It makes him feel like he is in the right, by pretending that the negative qualities in himself belong to another person.

He projects again later on in the book, when he meets up with Rhea, and is talking about the emperors:

“But how could we not know about this?” I demanded. “We are gods!”

Rhea’s laugh reminded me of a piglet with asthma. “Apollo, Grandson, beautiful child…Has being a god ever stopped someone from being stupid?”

She had a point. Not about me personally, of course, but the stories I could tell you about the other Olympians… (243)

He doesn’t want to admit that he’s in that category of being stupid, but he’ll happily give the label to other gods, so he doesn’t have to deal with it himself.

Displacement

Basically, displacement is taking your feelings out on someone else, because taking them out on the cause of the feelings would be too dangerous. There’s only one notable example I can think of where Apollo uses this, but it’s an important one: when Apollo displaces his anger at his father for electrocuting him and for murdering Asclepius, onto the Master Bolt, and then onto those who made the Master Bolt, the Elder Cyclopes. Apollo himself addresses this one in The Burning Maze, since Meg is doing something similar with Nero and Caligula:

“My father, Zeus, killed one of my favorite sons, Asclepius, for bringing people back from the dead without permission. Long story. The point is... I was furious with Zeus, but he was too powerful and scary for me to fight. He would’ve vaporized me. So I took out my revenge another way.

[...]

“Anyway,” I continued,” I couldn’t kill Zeus. So I found the guys who had made his lightning bolts, the Cyclopes. I killed them in revenge for Asclepius. As punishment, Zeus made me mortal.”

[...]

“I was projecting my anger onto someone else, someone safer.” (237-238)

Something I find interesting here: Apollo is perfectly aware of how and why he did this. But he went through with it anyway. Even knowing that the Cyclopes weren’t truly the ones he was angry at, he still killed them, because he still FELT like they were, and he needed to lash out at SOMEONE, even if it wasn’t their fault.

By the end of The Dark Prophecy, or the Burning Maze at the latest, all these defense mechanisms have broken down. Apollo has to let out some of his emotions in The Dark Prophecy, crying over a toilet as he relives murdering Commodus, and watching Trophonious cut Agamethus’ head off, because he refused to intervene. But Jo helps him through it, gives him acceptance and support, and gradually he calms down. Later, in the Cave of Trophonious, he nearly gives up and lets himself pass on to the other side of the Styx, but doesn’t because if he does, then Meg will too. And the same goes for Meg. She refuses to let herself die, because even though she feels like she deserves it, if she dies, then Apollo will pass on too. Both of them resist dying because the other person needs them. He starts relying on others, confiding in them, taking strength from their support, and being support in turn.

In the Burning Maze, Apollo feels very guilty and miserable whenever others die. He blames himself for not being able to save Money Maker, thinking that he could have saved her if he still had his godly power. When Jason dies, he blames himself for both Jason’s death, and Piper’s pain. He even blames himself for Crest’s death, for not being able to save him, for making yet another promise he couldn’t keep.

But now, he deals with the pain differently. He accepts it, and channels it. In fact, he started doing this as early as The Hidden Oracle, when he took all the pain from his guilt, sorrow, and heartbreak, and channeled it outwards in order to subdue the myrmekes. In the Burning Maze, he channels his grief and pain over Jason’s death, into the strength to go on, and not let his sacrifice be in vain. He does the same with Crest’s death, moving forwards, accepting his feelings in full, but not letting them drag him down, but instead taking strength from them. As painful as they are, he refuses to shy away anymore. This is reflected in the last few lines of The Burning Maze:

I would defeat the emperors. I would free Delphi from Python’s grasp. I would not allow those who had sacrificed themselves to do so for nothing.

Perhaps this quest had ended on a suspended fourth chord. We still had much to do.

But from now on, I would be more than Lester. I would be more than an observer.

I would be Apollo.

I would remember. (418-419)

He will take all that pain, would remember all the pain, and everything he’s learned. And he will turn it into strength, carrying on the will of those who are already departed, so that hopefully more will not die.

#trials of apollo #lester papadopoulos #apollo #the burning maze #the trials of apollo #my analysis post #the dark prophecy #the hidden oracle #toa #I COMPLETELY changed my conclusion on this one #But I think I like this one better #Discussion is always encouraged!#This thing was sitting in my drafts for SO long #apolloappreciation

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jbuffyangel · 5 years

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Timeless 2x11 Reaction: “The Miracle of Christmas Part 1 and 2″

And thus Timeless is officially over. How did the writers fair with the series finale aka The Timeless movie? Pretty freakin’ fantastic.

Let’s dig in...

It’s been several months between Timeless’ Season 2 finale and their series finale tonight, so the writers wisely include a “Previously on Timeless.” We flashback to all their adventures while Unhappy Future Lucy (who looks a little scary if I’m being honest) narrates. It helps because I seriously forgot her mother is dead. (They kill Susanna Thompson on every damn show!)

The beginning is a little jarring because storylines I expected to happen in a season or two are all happening RIGHT NOW. My brain needs time to downshift, but I eventually adjust.

First things first - dealing with the third point in the love triangle, Garcia Flynn. Timeless isn’t interested in drawing out the shipper war because Wyatt and Lucy are kind of a mess. They require some screen time so they are fixed in a realistic manner.

Scary Future Lucy gives Present Day Lucy and Wyatt her diary. Spoiler alert: Lucy hooks up with Flynn. Spoiler alert: They break up sometime down the road because she is really in love with Wyatt. They play out Lucy and Flynn’s entire relationship in under 3 minutes. I’m not joking when I say they breeze through three to four seasons worth of triangle.

I love Goran Visnjic, and while I adore Lucy and Wyatt, I was never opposed to Lucy and Flynn. I mean yeah he’s a murderer. That’s a real negative, but it’s friggin Goran Visnic. Have you seen this guy? He’s so hot. Where Dr. Luca goes so goes my nation.

Kidding aside, the writers convey the depth of Lucy and Flynn’s relationship with just a few lines, which is an impressive writing achievement. I love how Flynn is all “I can’t believe you date me because I tried to kill you a bunch of times.” HAHAHA. Classic. And true! Ah the joy of television romance. But it ain’t gonna be you Flynn, so mosey along big fella.

Jessica is not pregnant. UGH. I HATED THIS STORYLINE SO MUCH.

I appreciate the writers giving it a fast and hard death, but this is one of the ways I think Season 2 went wrong. Timeless is a show that defied the typical television tropes and that’s what made it so interesting in Season 1. However, I think their Season 2 renewal, and desire to snare more viewers, created a “throw everything, but the kitchen sink” mentality.

They used every romance trope they could think of in Season 2 to see what would stick. It was just... not good. I don’t blame Timeless anymore than I do any other show that does this (and it’s pretty much all of them). It was just disappointing to see the show move in this direction, when previously they’d been so good at avoiding those kinds of storylines.

Flynn sacrifices himself by going back to 2012 to kill Jessica, so Rufus never dies. REDEMPTION ARC BITCHES!!! YESSSS!!

Seriously, he is so bad ass. Flynn puts a couple bullets in Jessica (plus one extra to be sure) after a ninja knockdown fight. He knows the effects of traveling to his own timeline will kill him... or something. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Then he watches 2012 Flynn with his beautiful and living family through a window before he dies.

Flynn leaves a goodbye letter for Lucy that pretty much says he loves her, but he knows she loves Wyatt and he wants her to be happy. So yes, GARCIA FLYNN sacrifices himself for Rufus, ensures Lucy and Wyatt find the happy ending they deserve even though he is in love with Lucy, helps stop Rittenhouse and save the world. I AM SO EMO ABOUT MY BOY RIGHT NOW!

As for Lucy and Wyatt, they tiptoe around each other for most of the two hours. Wyatt thinks she ends up with Flynn and Lucy doesn’t want to be second choice. They are the only two who remember the Jessica history. Dear God, can we all forget too? Everyone is pretty much, “Why aren’t y’all together because y’all were together before and it was perfection?” So meta.

Wyatt almost dies in an explosion while delivering a baby during the fall of North Korea. Yes, you read that correctly. WYATT LOGAN IS HERE TO SAVE NATIONS AND DELIVER BABIES!

Lucy realizes she almost lost Wyatt and they are wasting time worrying about the past.

This part of the finale feels really predictable to me. There’s no way they are killing off Wyatt, especially after Flynn dies. Lyatt is endgame, so the two characters dancing around it for so long feels like prolonging the inevitable.

“After that explosion I thought you were dead. And for a moment I saw my whole life without you and my world ended Wyatt.”

But damn though, what a speech Lucy gives him.

Honestly, it is slightly annoying she did most of the talking because Wyatt is the one who screwed up. At least he offers up a “I wanted to pick you Lucy, but I felt I owed Jessica because she was my baby mama” explanation. Of course, we all knew this.

Lucy accepts Wyatt’s “I am a big pine tree” explanation because facts. Things really get cooking with some Lyatt mistletoe kissing.

Source: sisterzelda

Ah, a time honored holiday trope I will never grow tired of. Then they have sex

BUT CUT AWAY TOO SOON! Boo NBC!

Rufus is alive, but doesn’t remember being dead. Jiya remembers Rufus being dead, but he doesn’t remember Jiya living in Chinatown for three years in the 1800s. I think.

Jiya is concerned she’s no longer the woman Rufus fell in love with (re: see three years of trauma). I argue Rufus fell in love with a bad ass and Jiya is still most certainly one. It is frustrating how quickly they had to go through her physical and emotional trauma from Chinatown. Ugh, this is some seriously important drama that could have been a multiple season deep dive. Stupid cancellation.

Rufus and Jiya realize they are still perfect for each other, because they are perfect for each other. They start a company together and become billionaires saving the world. Jiya’s hair color is extremely pretty in the final scenes too. I feel this is very important detail to include. I heart them.

Source: katie-mcgraths

Lucy and Wyatt discuss how they don’t want to become scary Lucy and Wyatt from the future and THEY DON’T BECAUSE OF FLYNN. They get married, Wyatt works for Agent Christopher on special projects, and Lucy is a tenured history professor who focuses on important historical women. BECAUSE THERE AIN’T NO TIME FOR THE MEN! That’s right fellas. Drink your tea and wait your turn.

Unfortunately, Lucy is not able to get her sister Amy back. She gives an poignant speech about grief and loss, which could be the show’s mission statement. This is how you write a series finale:

"Everybody loses someone they love. And no matter how badly they want to they can't get them back. In spite of that they find a way to go on. That's everyone's history."

What connects all of time is our humanity. We are born. We live. We love. We suffer grief, pain and loss. We find joy. We endure. This is the thread century after century. In the end, we aren’t so different after all.

THEN LUCY AND WYATT GET MARRIED

Source: @splitscreen

AND HAVE TWIN GIRLS NAMED FLYNN AND AMY.

Source: @splitscreen

ALERT!!!!!!!!!! MULTIPLES CONCEIVED! IT IS THE DREAM! EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!!

The final scene is 2023 Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus traveling to 2014 to tell Garcia Flynn about the time machine. Lucy tells Flynn he doesn’t lose his humanity even though he never gets his family back. He is the hero the team and the world needs in the end. It connects the beginning and end of Timeless so seamlessly. This was probably always going to be the bookend. I just wish we had a few more seasons in between it.

They hint at a future time machine being invented by a young girl Rufus took an interest in at the science fair. The morality of the time machine is debated between Agent Christopher and Connor. She wants to destroy it, but Connor argues they need to keep it so they can stop others from abusing its power. You can’t un-invent something. Someone sooner or later will create the same technology Connor and Rufus did. They have a responsibility to make sure time travel is not abused and another Rittenhouse does not rise. So, the time machine is kept, covered, guarded and waiting.

Do I think we’ll see a resurrected Timeless about this girl and her time machine? No. I don’t. This is the last stop on the Timeless train and, while it was a wonderful ride, it is over. Actors are released from contracts. Writers, producers, crew, etc have all moved on to other gigs. It’s a freaking miracle they even made the movie. (Apropos episode title).

Timeless approached the series finale the correct way, which is what’s important to me. They didn’t leave a bunch of loose ends. The world was saved and I saw all our beloved characters living their happy lives in peace. I need to know these characters are going to be okay, so I can say goodbye.

Thank you Timeless for the insightful way you approached history, your cast of wonderful characters, humor and unflinching honesty. I look forward to the streaming deal so I can rewatch again and again.

Source: yasmin-khan

Stray Thoughts

The finale is one EPIC Lucy speech after another. My girl runs this show.

Nobody was dressed appropriately for a North Korea winter.

It looked like the mother threw her newborn into Wyatt’s arms as her son came running to her. LOL Nice catch, soldier.

"I've loved you since the Alamo." Girl is that ever right.

Don't mock. Saint Christopher is for REAL. He has helped me out of many jams.

Hahaha. Wyatt said m'am. That's how you know it's the end.

#timeless #timeless review #timeless series finale #timeless 2x11 #the timeless movie #lyatt #lucy preston #wyatt logan #rufus carlin #jiya marri #rufus x jiya

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tigerlover16-uk · 5 years

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Reimagining DBGT Baby saga

As we all know, Dragon Ball GT was a complete hot mess…at least in execution. On paper and taken on their own merits, many of the concepts and storylines of GT are actually pretty good, even brilliant in some cases (*coughcough* Shadow Dragons). The problem, however was the execution. Because they were rushed to get the show out, the writers clearly went the route of making stuff up on the fly rather than actually planning out the story. As a result, many of these ideas, things that could have been amazing stories, ended up as wasted potential because Toei was focused on Rule of Cool/Funny instead of worldbuilding, character development, and story logistics.

Pan and Uub are the poster children for these missed opportunities. Pan was notoriously badly written, with the writers themselves admitting that they included her mainly as a damsel in distress to make Goku look better, while Uub was basically forgotten, undoing everything that the end of Z was setting up with him. Here, I will take you through my thought process and show what I would have done with the characters had I been one of the showrunners for GT.

*Just to get some things out of the way, a) This will only go into sharp detail for the Baby arc since that is the only one I am intimately familiar with plot wise, and b)GOKU IS STILL AN ADULT! This was pointless, silly, and only served for cheap jokes that at worst hurt Goku’s character. NEXT!

-Getting into the real meat of the issue, the Black Star Dragon Ball saga would mostly remain the same (BSDBs are used, Earth’ll blow up in a year, Giru eats the Dragon Radar, Luud conflict, etc.). However, Uub would replace Trunks as the third party member, citing that his training can still continue and he wants some real-world experience.

-The character dynamic between Uub and Pan would play out as a mostly-friendly rivalry, both wanting to impress Goku. Uub has come to admire Goku and wants to live up to him, but Pan has much more personal baggage.

*I can imagine Pan as being somewhat resentful of Goku for running off to train Uub, leaving his family behind to live in some random village and train this kid. This would serve to address a common criticism of Goku’s character (focus on his own wants ahead of others), while also making clear that this hurt is unintentional. Goku obviously would never intentionally hurt his loved ones, but sometimes the choices we make have an impact on the people around us. Pan still loves her grandfather, so rather than bring this to the forefront, she decides to bottle these feelings up, not wanting to say something that may hurt him in turn.

*Additionally, Pan may also suffer from an inferiority complex as a result of having so many powerful warriors in her family. She becomes fixated on becoming a Super Saiyan so she can truly live up to that legacy (put a pin in that it’ll be important later)

-Another character point to come up is Uub learning the truth, that he is the reincarnation of Majin Buu. At some point prior to arriving at Planet M2, Uub is pushed to his breaking point during a battle, causing him to lash out with an aggression similar to Kid Buu (I credit KCruzer of DeviantArt for the impetus behind this idea https://www.deviantart.com/kcruzer/art/DBTNG-Satsui-No-Majin-782861139). When Goku tells him the truth, Uub starts suffering an identity crisis compounded by his fear of losing control of the rage.

-The mini arc on M2 is mostly the same, only Pan’s feelings of betrayal by Giru have a more pronounced impact by triggering a transformation similar to the False Super Saiyan from Lord Slug. While that film is obviously non-canon, the idea of a pseudo-Super Saiyan form is one I quite enjoy, and the power boost allows Pan to rescue Goku and Uub and defeat the Sigma Force on her own (the only downside is that this power is hard to maintain). Goku’s battle with Rilldo is much the same, as is their discovery of Baby.

-Flash forward to the return to Earth, only now Baby’s takeover is different. Since Goku is unencumbered by his body, he is able to fight Baby on a much more level footing, and actually starts to win. However, baby uses his control over the infected human population to order some of them to kill themselves, and to commit mass suicide in the case of his own death. Rather than risk it, Goku surrenders. Pan tries to attack Baby herself, but is overwhelmed and apparently killed. As you can probably guess, this puts Pan into the position Goku was in the original show, and she trains to go fight Baby.

*Meanwhile, Baby hooks Goku up to a machine designed to siphon his Ki into himself, completing Baby’s growth to the point where he no longer needs Vegeta’s body to maintain his power. After all, what kind of Tuffle savior would Baby be if he had to remain a parasite of a Saiyan? This would also give a chance to flesh out Baby’s character more, as he is a very real testament to the horrifying legacy of the Saiyans, their tragic genocide by Frieza notwithstanding.

*Uub would take up Pan’s original role, trying to heal the possessed humans alongside Fat Buu and Mr. Satan while also fighting the infected Gohan, Goten and Trunks. Here, the evil Buusona would again resurface, but Uub once again starts to lose control. Buu approaches Uub with the chance to fuse as they did in canon, thus allowing him to properly harness the power. However, while this would give him the strength to defeat Baby, Uub refuses to risk losing his singular will. Thus, unable to call upon the Majin’s strength, Uub is bested by Baby, who eventually becomes strong enough to leave Vegeta’s weakened body

*In Other World, Pan undergoes similar measures and training to restore her tail, in this AU a way for her to better control her False Super Saiyan power. Old Kai considers subjecting Pan to the same empowerment ritual he used on Gohan, but Pan is too impatient and pressed for time to sit for that. Once her tail is regrown, Pan rushes to fight Baby while sending Uub and the others to free Goku, but she too is defeated. This is followed by the Golden Oozaru transformation that Goku originally underwent, only this time it is a healed Videl who manages to calm the berserk Pan down. Thus, Pan is the one to unlock Super Saiyan 4 instead of Goku.

*The power of the transformation allows Pan to make quick work of Baby, but the aggression indicative of Super Saiyan forms kicks in when she starts to pointlessly drag the fight out. In fact, due to having no experience with the other transformations, the Hulk-out is even more extreme that usual. By now, Goku has been freed and tries to get Pan to back off. However, this only causes Pan to snap again, letting all her hurt and anger with her grandfather out at once. Goku is shaken by Pan’s words, but he is reluctantly forced to fight when Pan attacks him, asserting that she is finally a true Saiyan warrior and demanding that he go all out.

*Baby manages to recover and ty to escape but is stopped by Vegeta, who is prepared to kill him on the spot before Uub steps in, citing that the Tuffles had suffered enough. Remembering how Mr. Satan beges him to spare Buu, Vegeta offers Baby mercy, only for the Tuffle to commit suicide, feeling that his people have no more legacy to hope for.

*Goku and Pan’s battle starts getting more intense as Pan continues to vent, letting out all the hurt she had been feeling while Goku tries to apologize. It eventually gets to the point where Goku refuses to fight her and powers down, letting her lay into him. However, by this point all of Pan’s rage has been spent, and all that’s left is a scared girl wants her grandfather back. The two finally reconcile and return to the others

*The saga ends much as it did previously, the only real difference being that Piccolo does not sacrifice himself and the balls are destroyed another way.

-Subsequent sagas may vary (cut Super 17 and seriously rework the Shadow Dragons), but the following points would also be present

*Pan works with Gohan and Goku to achieve and master the real Super Saiyan state so that Pan will avoid the uncontrollable rage that comes from going all the way to Super Saiyan 4 (i.e. SS1 is drinking a single cup of caffeinated coffee, SS4 is drinking six at once)

*Uub comes to terms with his origins as Buu, and learns to call upon and control the Majin power without going nuts

*Vegeta discovers a colony of Tuffle survivors and tries to find a way to make amends for the Saiyan’s crimes

The final result is this; a set of long, heavily involved character arcs spanning a whole saga, connecting directly to our main protagonist, and centered around the theme of legacy. Baby came from a slaughtered people and wants to restore their honor. Uub was born from the most terrifying evil in the universe, yet wants to show he is his own person. Pan is the granddaughter of the world’s greatest hero who mistakenly feels that she must live up to him to earn his love. And finally, Goku is the legendary warrior who is now caught between a legacy of violence from his enemy, a legacy of past mistakes in his family, and a legacy of evil he worked to remake.

Some may find this too deep, but that’s just me.

…

I’m gonna be honest. This sounds a million times more interesting than how the actual Baby Saga played out.

#submission

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indiepoptime · 6 years

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STRAY KIDS SUPERHERO AU

i started this when i didn’t have wifi or a sketchbook and thus my phone’s notes app was the only thing i had to entertain myself. i didn’t get very far, but decided to finish because we got a fandom name recently (hello fellow stays!!!) and also our boys are coming back so soon and i’m E X C I T E D as hell

anyways i’ll keep one before the cut as a teaser and the rest under it so this post doesnt get too long. this isn’t in age order like i usually do it because....idk. it felt right to do chan first.

hope y’all enjoy this one as much as my day6 one from a bit back!!

Bang Chan/Chan:

—the batman type of superhero who everyone thinks has some insane power/ability but really is just a normal dude armed with his smarts, charisma, and a small collection of taser guns

—is one of the only members without a secret identity (he barely has a costume. it’s literally a black onesie at best; he wears what he can change into fast) but the members still spy on him because they think he’s lying about not having powers

—works from home in graphic design so that he has the flexibility to do both daytime and nighttime shifts as a hero (we see his priorities here—he still doesn’t get enough sleep)

—doesn’t kill and actively tries to rehabilitate his opponents while he fights them

—villains hate him because they find him irritating, except the ones who he’s managed to actually reform (who, to be fair, still find him irritating but don’t hate him because he’s made their lives better) and who are now grudgingly his “allies” through a variety of physical and figurative debts

—the of-age members have a drinking game where they’ll take a shot after work every time chan ends a battle by calling to a villain by name and taking them out to ice cream/boba/fries (still in costume)

—won’t shut up about how much he loves his team to the point where he’s on probation for public appearances because he’ll inevitably give away a member’s identity. regardless, he’s the undisputed leader and every single member trusts him with their secret identity if they have one

Woojin:

—student with a part-time job as a barista and also as a superhero

—running joke is that he didn’t mean to be on a superhero team, but chan joined his chill study club and turned it into a vigilante club without him realizing what was happening until it was too late

—he just goes with the jokes, but secretly can’t remember how he was pulled into this whole superhero mess either. the thought concerns him a little (but not that much)

—speedster who complains about his “slowness” anyways, leading to his being called either the grandpa or the bear (perpetual hibernation; the members joke that one day he will actually sleep through his own life) of the team

—hard-carries the team in a silent, un-flashy way—a lot of his work in battle is done speeding from place to place, stealing weapons, changing the position of mines and traps

—complains about the members a lot, but genuinely views himself as their personal guardian and would gladly sacrifice his life for them even if he’s somewhat clumsy about it

—the members still give him shit about the one time he rammed into a glass door at the speed of sound and shattered it all over himself (thank god for armored suits) to save jeongin from what he thought was a villain but was actually just a large bird/tree/telephone pole (the story’s gotten muddled over the years)

Lee Know/Minho:

—a professional dancer who’s been in the industry for years, though he’s only recently come out of the shadows as a backing dancer and into the spotlight as a solo act; the development of his powers over fire and electricity have allowed him to put on some pretty impressive performances

—woojin meets him one day in his coffee shop and, after recognizing him from his dancing, asks him about his powers and advertises his club to him. after a few drops by the shop, minho decides to pay the club a visit and essentially adopts all the members as his unspoken proteges

—his fighting style is a mixture of dance and martial arts, which he learned when he was younger, plus a few neat tricks with fire that allow him to hover and propel/flip in the air

—“why are you afraid of heights—you literally fly!”

—“IT’S DIFFERENT OK”

—he’s by far the most popular member with the public, most of whom have not quite made the connection between the graceful fire dancer on stage and the aggressive but also elegant fighter that he becomes in battle. a few of his fans have obviously connected the dots, but are fiercely loyal to his brand and consider it their little secret

—nevertheless, he’s not at all afraid of losing his secret identity and simply keeps it because he can

—he tells the members that he’s already a celeb anyways, so it doesn’t really matter, and happily posts little hints to his identities on all of his social media (he’s got sites for Nightstriker (his superhero name—as pretentious as possible) and himself) while the other members stare on in shock

Changbin:

—rich as h e c k; the one facet of batman that chan lacks

—an amateur graphic novelist with a passion for collecting things: he’s got at least 200 stuffed animals, boxes upon boxes of antique marbles, and enough superhero suits (that he had custom-made depending on his mood and age) to last a small lifetime

—he’s wanted to be a superhero since he was very small, since he spent a lot of his youth reading books and comics, but didn’t develop powers until later in life so he turned to novel-writing as a way to become a hero in fantasy

—when he was 17, his power over shadow finally started to manifest, catching him off guard. at first he could only do small things like blind people or turn the lights off without moving, but eventually he learned that he could literally control people’s bodies by manipulating their shadows

—he went to woojin’s club out of fear, afraid that his powers were too dark to control, and that he couldn’t be the hero he wanted to be if he couldn’t control them

—the other members but especially minho took him under their wing and showed him that there were multiple sides to his power that he could harness in order to achieve balance: the darkness of shadow, but also the light around it

—once changbin gains control over his powers, he considers it his debt to shower the other members with ridiculously luxurious items from home. he’s never quite known what to do with all of his wealth, most of it inherited, so he just keeps buying stuff for the people who helped him

—minho’s not sure what to do with the fancy gold-lined bidet that suddenly appears in his backstage bathroom, but he goes with it

Han/Jisung:

—a childhood friend of changbin’s who re-entered his life when he needed an illustrator to help him with his graphic novels

—equipped with a raging imagination since he was very young, jisung’s powers actually manifest while he’s working on one of changbin’s comics: he accidentally imagines one of the monsters from its pages into being

—changbin and him end up having to fight it and, after changbin helps a stunned jisung defeat the monster with his darkness powers (which jisung previously didn’t know existed), he offers to take his friend to woojin’s club to help him control his newfound abilities

—like minho took changbin under his wing, chan takes it upon himself to help jisung reign in his wayward imagination and bend it to his will. as someone who has to remain calm at all times and evaluate the situation to take advantage of it because of his lack of powers, chan is in a unique position to help jisung concentrate

—once jisung is able to handle his abilities at least to a certain extent, he excitedly provides the club with their own building, furnished with plush furniture and a frighteningly large sunflower lamp in the living room. he refuses to compromise on both the lamp and the building’s fuchsia walls and insists that if they want something different they’ll have to buy it, which changbin immediately does

—his favorite weapon in battle is a giant yellow hammer that he created, which he’s happily named j.won to foreshadow his impending victories. his members are tired and have basically given up on him

Hyunjin:

—if minho’s fame as a celebrity dancer is discounted, then hyunjin would win as the most popular member simply because he’s STELLAR at hiding his identity and everyone is curious as hell

—literally has no clue how popular he is and doesn’t believe it when the other members tell him

—everyone thinks he’s significantly older than he actually is because he has a very dark costume that covers his entire body and a green jeweled mask that covers his face (the jewels came from changbin; the green was hyunjin’s idea)

—his power is poison, and he’s damn good at using it. not only can he erode/poison an enemy by touching them, forcing them to grow progressively weaker throughout a battle; he can also use words to poison: his power allows him to discover his enemy’s worst fear and use it to weaken them

—like changbin, he came to the club out of fear, but not because he was worried that his power would overcome him, but because he worried that controlling and using it made him a bad person

—under the guidance of chan and changbin, he learns to limit his powers and use them to curb evil/violence without crossing the line himself

—when he first came to the club, he was attached to changbin at the hip because he felt a kindred spirit in him, but eventually he would start to absorb the joy of some of the other members, especially jisung and felix (who were usually around changbin anyway)

Felix:

—having come from abroad and found himself both directionless and moneyless, felix turns to stealing in order to provide for himself. he breaks into changbin’s home thinking that he and his family aren’t there, only to find changbin wrestling himself into one of his many superhero suits (the family outing, while true for the rest of his family, was a distraction for changbin to change)

—after the shock of that first meeting, changbin “invites” (more like grudgingly accepts) his intruder into his home and offers him a full meal, as well as a free shower and some nice clothes before going out on his mission

—somewhere down the line changbin realizes that he’s adopted a younger brother somehow? and it’s actually kind of nice?? once felix is cleaned up and not stealing, he’s very smiley and cute and follows changbin around the house everywhere offering to help

—eventually, changbin isn’t able to keep felix from coming along with him to one of his club meetings, wherein felix gains a bucketload of new role models

—chan is SO COOL, especially because he doesn’t have powers, and because felix thinks that he also doesn’t have powers, he spends every meeting trying to get chan to teach him stuff

—eventually, the team takes felix aside to try to figure out if he DOES have any powers (since, changbin insists, if he’s gonna keep coming with me we gotta keep him NOT DEAD. I HAVE BROTHERLY DUTIES)

—it doesn’t take them long to discover that felix definitely does have powers, and that they were kind of obvious: he can turn himself intangible at will, and he does it unconsciously. it’s how he’s been getting into houses undetected

—woojin takes him as his apprentice, since his powers are fairly similar (SO COOL, says felix)

—jisung calls him Filly Pryde and insists that this should be his superhero name when he goes public—the rest of the team wants to die in that instant

Seungmin:

—the only member of the team who actually came to the club on his own free will and wasn’t brought in by another member

—was a HUGE fan of the superhero team before he joined; he followed all of their public appearances and kept newspaper cuts of their battles in his room, as well as identity graphs where he’s hunted down info about all of the members and tried to figure out who they actually were

—when he joins, woojin comes to the apartment that he shares with his mom and sister and seungmin is a frenzy of COVER UP EVERYTHING THEY CAN’T KNOW THAT I KNOW hi im seungmin

—while hyunjin trained himself because he HAD to, seungmin built up his seemingly useless power to make it into a superhero-worthy skill. he can control paper, but has trained himself to have limited control over different types of trees (those that are made to make paper, which he’s taught himself to recognize on sight)

—he’s also extremely skilled at using paper folding/origami as a weapon using speed and the angle of the edge of the paper. basically paper-cuts on steroids

—changbin makes the mistake of hazarding a joke about seungmin’s ability when they first meet, before seungmin almost saws his nose off (and also berates him with hundreds of embarrassing incidents from past fights that seungmin somehow still remembers)

—he and minho have a bomb combo move that involves minho lighting trains of paper knives on fire and it is, in felix’s words, the best thing on this good earth

I.N/Jeongin:

—seungmin’s protege

—jeongin’s power is the most obvious of the whole team’s: he’s got 4-foot angel wings that are probably still growing. when they first sprouted, he was almost beat nonsensical before seungmin paper-cut his bullies into near delirium and then told jeongin that his wings were the most awesome thing he’d ever seen

—seungmin then brought jeongin home, made him a variety of beautiful paper capes and shawls to hide his folded wings, and then went to the club to have jisung make him a bag whose straps could fit his wings through them, as well as fabric copies of the paper designs

—after a while, jisung began to question who he was making these extravagant gifts for, and had woojin & chan ask seungmin to bring his protege to the club

—afraid that his team would think jeongin was either too young or ill-prepared to be a superhero, seungmin spent an entire night preparing a 20-slide ppt presentation complete with images and research for his case, as well as a few days training jeongin in basic battle skills

—he needn’t have been worried though; chan falls in love with jeongin instantly and forces the rest of the team to accept him as well, which doesn’t take much forcing at all once the kid smiles

—“WHAT IS THAT PEST??!” demands a villain, gesturing at a flying jeongin

—“THAT’S OUR BABY!” chan yells back

#stray kids #skiz #stray kids au #bang chan #woojin #seungmin #hyunjin #felix #jeongin #jisung #han #in #minho #lee know #changbin #my writing

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buildridernews · 6 years

Text

[Review] Kamen Rider Build - Episodes 34-37

Time for a month of episodes where some stuff happens. The most important thing to happen is me finally catching up with the show!

Small disclaimer now that we're in Evol territory: If it weren't obvious, I flip between character name and Rider name (Sento / Build) depending on whether they are transformed during a scene I talk about, so if you see me saying Evolt or Evol, that's not a typo. That's just the show deciding to give them such similar names. Carry on.

Episode 34: “The Best Match Severed” (離れ離れのベストマッチ)

So Kamen Rider Evol is a thing, the prime minister is dead, and Gentoku might have emotions. Following that heavy ending to the last episode, Evol decides to poison Sento with the promise of a cure in return for - you guessed it - all of the Fullbottles and Pandora's Box. While Ryuga and Kazumi reluctantly meet him at the box's location with all of the bottles, it turns out the poison can only be cured if Evolt is defeated, which means they'll fight for Sento's life. Vernage's powers don't seem to be enough to help, as Evolt even remarks that her powers are just remnants at this point.

Of course, since Evolt has proven himself to be less than trustworthy, this goes poorly. Cross-Z Magma might have the stronger form, but he can just barely make a dent in Evol. It doesn't help that he's been given quite the realization, as Katsuragi previously wanted both Evolt and Ryuga dead since they are more or less one and the same. Also real talk? Kazumi says it's dangerous to transform again after you've been forced out of a transformation, which I don't think I've ever even heard being addressed in a toku - props.

With one literally heated rematch between Evol and Cross-Z Magma, the finishers clash and we end the episode with Ryuga standing in the flames left by their battle... and the reveal that Evolt has taken on the form of Ryuga! As you'd expect, Evolt was lying about Sento's poison only being cured that way, so Sento is healed and only just aware that something is amiss here...

Episode 35: “Tower of Destruction” (破滅のタワー)

Hot off the heels of the last episode, Evolt transforms into his new Dragon Form, which makes use of Cross-Z's helmet design. He's basically just showing off as he decides to stroll into the building to get Pandora's Box and ditch them. Sento won't take that sitting down, so despite literally just crawling out of an ambulance, he's ready to fight Evol.

This is when we get the full context of what's going on with Ryuga. As it turns out, the substance that made its way back from Mars was a part of Evolt, which was attempting to possess Ryuga's mother, but accidentally possessed the baby in her womb. So technically, Ryuga isn't the space baby I figured, he's just a human who got possessed by alien powers that fused with him to the point they remained dormant. So as Blood Stalk, Evolt was constantly raising Ryuga's Hazard Level for the sake of making him strong enough to fuse with, basically. Damn. That all comes together nicely.

After all that exposition, Evol ditches Build with the bottles and the box, but he forgot one! More on that in a sec. For now, we get something I wasn't expecting: Soichi is separated from Evolt, as he's in Ryuga's body now. In true toku fashion, however, he's in the hospital for now so we can't actually find out what he has to say yet. To be fair though, Evolt did kinda let himself deliberately take a LOT of beatings leading up to the Evol Driver reveal, so he deserves some rest.

More on that bottle. I dunno who to credit for this cleverness, but Gentoku still had the Phoenix Fullbottle with him, meaning Sento wants to work together against Evolt. However, before they can really strike up a deal, Evolt forces them all to the middle of Pandora Tower for his big moment.

As you'd expect, everyone would rather punch him than let him do what he pleases, but that doesn't go so well to say the least. As it turns out, Evol is now acting against Namba since he's OPENING Pandora's Box, so it's up to Utsumi to go order Evol to stop - which goes as well as you'd expect. With no one capable enough to stop him, all 60 of the Fullbottles are in place and Pandora's Box - as well as Pandora Tower - is fully formed!

This would be a fun time for the show to take a week long break due to sports, but we've been pretty lucky in that regard.

Episode 36: "Evolt the Planet Hunter" (エボルトは星を狩る)

With Evol unleashing the power of Pandora's Box, he pulls out an item we know to be the Evol Trigger, claiming it will bring him to full power. Unfortunately, he can't use it just yet for some reason, so what seemed like a finale moments ago has now been cut short. Although, as he assures Namba, Seito now has a stunning display of power they can use to intimidate Toto.

With Vernage making a quick rescue, we also learn that the Fullbottles of Pandora's Box were actually made from Soichi's memories, which is an interesting thought, and contained Evolt’s power. Sento also discovered that a bit of his father's research involved a way of using a Pandora Panel to create a special transformation item to counter Evolt's power, which sounds quite deadly. Misora catches onto the fact that he's going to sacrifice himself for the good of others again, and gives him a reasonable talking to since he is still feeling those sins crawling down his back - this is a fascinating conundrum they've cooked up for a protagonist, damn.

Meanwhile, Kazumi has a score to settle with Gentoku. It seems like after all their fights, he's become much stronger than our purple edgelord, though it probably helps that Gentoku is also emotionally vulnerable right now. Kazumi lets out his frustrations over Gentoku killing Akaba, but he understands that if Akaba were still here, he'd probably think he's being a little petty about it. Since he won this fight, Kazumi gives Gentoku one request: Someday, whenever he's ready, become their ally. Very cool scene all around.

As Seito once again makes Toto a dangerous place to live, Build takes on Evol, showing that he's actually becoming strong enough to take on Evol's default form - glad they showed that since the FullFull armor forms seemed like they were quickly outclassed. Build tries using the blocky transformation item and manages to do some damage, Evol puts a hand into his body (context), and Build reveals that his father's invention was intended to foil Evol's strategies and he uses this opportunity to raise his Hazard Level rapidly and blow them both up.

As the smoke clears, we're not left with Evol or Build... but a white-haired Sento. Ryuga is separated from Evolt, and it turns out Sento's plan failed, so Evolt has the body of our strongest hero. Using his new Rabbit Evolbottle pulled from Sento's body, he taunts them all with a form reminiscent of Build...

Episode 37: "The Ultimate Phase" (究極のフェーズ)

Using his newly obtained form, Evol is now on Phase 3 of his personal level system, and makes quick work of Grease by... what I assume was destroying his Sclashjelly, but I guess he just made a little mess with it. And he didn't even have to do anything to Ryuga, because he took back any DNA left on him, making Ryuga a completely normal human who can't transform. Vernage makes a desperate attempt to escape by taking the entirety of the cafe and their lab, and repositioning it ssssomewhere by the sea? Sure. Be interesting to see the reaction to that later.

Ryuga and Kazumi make desperate attempts of their own as they come to Gentoku, at Faust's old hideout, to try and give Ryuga a Hazard Level again. But Gentoku is honest about how he doesn't really know anything about science, and the process involved Evolt, so... they're out of luck. Kazumi however does give an awesome speech about how Sento always fought for love and peace, and in some way, they were all fighting for the same thing. Interesting tidbit dropped here where Rogue’s gear apparently can only be used when a certain emotional drive is involved, and as we've learned, Gentoku is pretty drained of motivation lately, so he's in as just of a bad place as Ryuga...

It's really just up to Grease to try and take on both Evolt and the gear bros, but just as Grease becomes outnumbered, Rogue shows up! With a refreshed outlook on life, he's decided that his father doesn't have to be the one to run Toto, and neither does he - but he can sure make way for a brighter future regardless. The combined strength of these two still isn't quite enough to challenge Evol's power - he's proving just how much of an endgame villain he is.

That's when Ryuga pulls a Sento and gets a clever idea. Wrestling off the Dragon Evolbottle from Evol's arsenal, he attempts to use it to punch the heck out of him, only for it to actually work! It turns a gold color, and the Cross-Z Dragon flies over to him, turning red as he inserts the new bottle. Using it in the Build Driver, he transforms into Great Cross-Z, which is... basically the original Cross-Z with some Evol-y colors here and there. Not as great as you’d expect.

In his new form, Cross-Z is surprisingly doing damage to Evol. Not only that, but his Hazard Level has in fact returned proper, as he switches to Cross-Z Magma and proves to be a formidable force. As the three Riders huddle together for a finisher, though, Evol blocks it with the Evol Trigger and lets it absorb their energy, allowing it to truly awaken.

Now Evolt, as Kamen Rider Evol, uses the Evol Trigger in the Evol Driver with his Evolbottles (NAMES ARE HARD) and transforms into his Blackhole Form - the final form. What a twi--

Oh, and Sento has been separated from Evolt,and he's back to normal... which means he no longer has amnesia and is now aware that he's Katsuragi Takumi! WHAT. A. TWIST.

So Build's doing pretty damn well. It has been high stakes for a while, but now we are in some heavy end game territory with plenty of episodes to spare. I am super interested in seeing where this Katsuragi thing goes.

These four episodes in particular were a lot of fun to marathon since they are so connected - it felt like a Steven Universe bomb done right, y'know? The one with the zoo? Good times.

Oh and since I know I’ll be asked about it: Yep, the magazine reveals for May did in fact include Kamen Rider Mad Rogue, who won’t be appearing until the next episode. The magazines show off what’s appearing in that month, though there are exceptions when it comes to movies/spinoffs. Regardless, this was an odd one to see in the magazine and not in the show.

I think their reasoning for this was probably to do with the DX BatEngine Fullbottle Set being released alongside the DX Evol Driver - people who aren’t following spoilers will probably wonder what those bottles are for and why the promo images specifically involve using the Evol Driver for this set of bottles.

#kamen rider build #reviews #feed

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kingofthewilderwest · 7 years

Note

I was wondering if you could do a list or something of everything from the books that’s in the movies and tv show universe? Like every detail, character, plot or influence no matter how small or big?

Unfortunately I’m never going to be able to get it all, and it’s be quite the time-consuming project to try! However, thankfully the httyd book fandom is very good about picking up parallels, and I’ve previously made a list on this same topic! Here’s a semi-updated list about many of the movie and tv show parallels. Friends, feel free to tack on if you think of other parallels! It’s fun to see all the parallels that there really are!

Obviously... this is going to be resplendent in spoilers across both the books and DreamWorks franchise.

FIRST MOVIE

The first movie has the general plot structure of the first book and is clearly inspired from it. It is the story of a young boy who trains with other youths his age in the ways of his tribe. By completing training, he can do a rite of passage and demonstrate he is one of the tribe. However, he fails this rite of passage and is cast out of the tribe by his father. Then an enormous dragon threatens the village. Hiccup leads the other youths to defeat the dragon. Ultimately, his own dragon Toothless saves his life and guarantees victory before he gets eaten. Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless grows throughout this adventure.

Berk is a small island with unpleasant weather. Especially, it’s cold.

Lots of the same characters - Hiccup, Toothless, Stoick, Gobber, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Alvin, and Fishlegs. Gobber remains the teacher of the students and Snotlout remains a bit of a cocky, self-important nagger against Hiccup. Stoick’s design with an enormous beard is consistent. We also have a dragon named Stormfly and a Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang in the books!

Monstrous Nightmares are seen as a status symbol in Berk. The Monstrous Nightmare is considered the dragon for the chief and his family in the books. The Monstrous Nightmare is the dragon only the bravest kill in the first movie.

Astrid is inspired off of Camicazi. Both are bold, blonde female characters with great fighting abilities who are close to Hiccup and own a dragon named Stormfly.

Berk owns a dragon manual written by a renowned Viking. In the books, Professor Yobbish wrote “How to Train Your Dragon,” the ultimate guide for the Hairy Hooligans. The Hairy Hooligans revere this book as the means of how to control dragons. In the DreamWorks movies, Bork the Bold wrote the Dragon Manual, the book the Hairy Hooligans respect as the authority for how to control dragons.

Dragon species with the same names - Nadders, Monstrous Nightmares, Gronckles, Purple Death. The Gronckle’s design is also notably similar between book and film, and while the Monstrous Nightmare is larger in the movies, but you can see the similarities in appearance to the ones in the books.

Hiccup confronts the Red/Green Death. Book!Hiccup fights the Green Death to protect Berk. DW!Hiccup fights the Red Death to protect Berk as well. Hiccup nearly dies from this encounter and is saved by Toothless. In the books he’s swallowed by the Green Death and saved by Toothless coming in to save the day… in the movies Hiccup is caught by Toothless before plunging into an explosion and crashing to the ground.

Hiccup loses part of a lower limb. DW!Hiccup loses a leg. Book!Hiccup loses a toe in How to Steal a Dragon’s Sword.

Gothi the elder is the movie’s version of Old Wrinkly, a wise elderly member of the tribe with magical connections. It’s to note DreamWorks was originally going to have much more magic in the early drafts of HTTYD.

Spitelout takes the same role as Baggybum. He is the spiteful, nagging Viking close to Stoick’s side who seems to question the chief. He’s the father of Snotlout. Spitelout was originally planned on having a larger role in early HTTYD drafts… back when those drafts were closer to the books. We can see in the resulting movie and shows the threads of Spitelout’s resemblance to Baggybum (and Snotlout and Hiccup being cousins).

The phrase “kill on sight.” Not an intentional parallel, but in the first HTTYD movie Hiccup reads in the dragon manual that every dragon is, “Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.” Book!Hiccup’s wanted poster also has the phrase “Kill him on sight.”

One of the statues in the HTTYD movies has a helmet similar to book!Hiccup’s. This helmet has one broken horn. Some fans have considered this a parallel to book!Hiccup’s broken-horned helmet.

Toothless is a rare, powerful, “special,” and feared species. The Night Fury is a dragon regarded and feared because no one has seen it and lived to tell the tale. The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus is the greatest, most powerful, and most feared species of dragon in the books.

Fishlegs was originally going to ride the Hideous Zippleback. And in the books, Fishlegs’ dragon has three heads!

RIDERS OF BERK / DEFENDERS OF BERK

Hiccup owns a small, obnoxious green dragon. The Terrible Terrors were initially designed to be book!Toothless, back when DreamWorks planned on making the movie closer to the books. In DOB, Hiccup gets a small, green Terrible Terror named Sharpshot… who acts similarly to the small, obnoxious green dragon Toothless in the books.

Viking students learn how to train small dragons. “Best in Show” is a story where Hiccup and the other Dragon Riders attempt to train Terrible Terrors and show their skills. It’s similar to the rite of passage in the first book, where Hiccup and the other students in Berk must show how they have mastered training a small hunting dragon.

Hiccup collects ancient family treasure. Both book!Hiccup and DW!Hiccup follow a map and other clues to locate an ancient family treasure, a treasure that only someone like Hiccup specifically could find. In ROB “Portrait of Hiccup as a Young Buff Man,” Hiccup follows Hamish the Second’s treasure trail - something “only a hiccup” could do. In the books Hiccup the Third collects The King’s Things from Grimbeard the Ghastly - something only Grimbeard the Ghastly’s prophecied heir could do.

Basically… all of “Portait of Hiccup as a Buff Young Man” gives off book vibes. It shows Hiccup insecure about how his father regards him, showing that Stoick sometimes gets carried away with ideas of his son as a stronger, more “typical” Viking. We also learn that Hiccup has an ancestor in the past, Hamish the Second, who was a runt… just like Hiccup in the books learns about Hiccup the Second and Hiccup the First.

Snotlout and Hiccup constantly bicker… and part of the reason is because Snotlout is jealous of Hiccup’s status and achievements. These two do not get along. Snotlout often acts rudely toward Hiccup. In “Defiant One” Snotlout shows he is jealous of Hiccup, just like Snotlout reveals to Hiccup in How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero that he’s fought Hiccup much due to jealousy. But, in the end, Snotlout and Hiccup make up when Snotlout does a bold, heroic action (compare “Cast Out Part 2″ with the end of the eleventh book).

Alvin the Treacherous. He’s a chief of the Outcasts who battles against Hiccup in both show and book series! The presence of Alvin the Treacherous and the Outcast Tribe is a clear inspiration from the books.

The Berserker Tribe. This is a tribe from both the books and shows.

Dagur versus Norbert. Dagur the Deranged and Norbert the Nutjob are both chiefs with deep intelligence but a wild sense of “crazy” unpredictability.

Fishlegs is a wannabe poet and musician. Fishlegs writes his own poetry and sings songs during Riders and Defenders of Berk. Fishlegs in the books wishes to be a bard and writes his own (terrible) poetry.

Dragons demonstrate similar abilities between book and show. For example, Changewings are dragons that can turn themselves perfectly invisible, like multiple species from the books can (ex: Stealth Dragon).

The eggs explode! In both books and DreamWorks franchise, dragons hatch through exploding eggs.

RACE TO THE EDGE

Hiccup’s name. Hiccup Haddock the Third is mentioned in the show… referring to the full name of the book’s protagonist, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.

Fishlegs is believed to have allergies against dragons. Fishlegs has allergies to dragons in the books. DW!Fishlegs is suspected to be allergic to Meatlug in “Big Man on Berk.”

Snotlout mentions wanting to be chief. Snotlout makes several comments about how he is almost like the chief. It’s an interesting call-out to the book’s Snotface Snotlout, who spends most of the series trying so hard to become chief himself.

Snotlout tries to become leader. Snotlout is always trying to become the chief of Berk in the books. Snotlout tries to take over Hiccup’’s leadership and become the leader of the dragon riders in “Not Lout.”

Snotlout and Hiccup physically fight. Snotlout tries to fight and kill Hiccup in multiple books. In “The Zippleback Experience,” Snotlout is supposed to attack Hiccup to make Barf and Belch believe Hiccup’s life is in danger. The result is Hiccup punching Snotlout.

Snotlout death references. They’re everywhere. Snotlout making a comment, “What’s one little arrow going to do?” - when he gets shot by an arrow in the books. Snotlout flying to take a hit from an arrow/quarrel for Hiccup in the skies during “Not Lout.” Snotlout falling from his dragon into the ocean and believing he’s dead in “Snotlout’s Angels.”

Dagur’s false death goes down similar to Snotlout’s book death. Dagur becomes a protagonist after trying to kill Hiccup for eons. When he is finally accepted as an ally, he goes forth to tackle an enormous enemy in a sacrifice to protect Hiccup. He is downed from his dragon and plunges into ocean waters.

An enemy falls into a volcano, gets burnt, but survives. Alvin the Treacherous falls into a volcano at the end of “How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale” when he tries to take the Fire Stone from Hiccup. Viggo falls into a volcano at the end of “Shell Shocked Part 2″ when he tries to take the Dragon Eye. Both enemies come back to fight Hiccup another day.

An enemy infiltrates Berk to learn information by pretending to be a friendly, common worker. Alvin the Treacherous pretends to be Alvin the Poor-But-Honest Farmer. Trader Johann pretends to be a foppish ally to the Hairy Hooligans. But both are seeking a more sinister gain.

The brand of a slave. Hiccup is marked as a slave in the book series. In Race to the Edge, the dragon hunters almost brand Hiccup on the face with what would basically have been a mark of ownership.

Hiccup fights with a sword. Hiccup spars with Inferno during Race to the Edge, and of course he has epic battles with Endeavor throughout the book series.

Potatoes. There are lots of hidden potatoes in RTTE. Potatoes are quite important in the books, naturally, and this is a silly call-out to that!

A gladiator ring with dragons. In “Stryke Out,” dragons are forced to fight one another in the ring. In How to Speak Dragonese, Hiccup, Camicazi, and Fishlegs are part of a gladiator spectacle that involves dragons eating other dragons.

Hiccup is pulled beneath sand by a dangerous dragon. Hiccup is pulled underground in How to Seize a Dragon’s Jewel by the Monster of the Amber Slavelands. Hiccup is pulled underground from a sandy beach in “Sandbusted.”

One of Hiccup’s closest companions will die unless a cure can be found from an impossible-to-find ingredient. There are marked similarities between the ideas of “Buffalord Soldier” and How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse. In the books, Fishlegs is believed to be dying from the sting of a Venomous Vorpent. The cure involves finding a potato, a legendary vegetable that is not believed to exist by most people… and which is said to only be found in America by others. In the show, Astrid is becoming increasingly ill from the deadly Scourge of Odin. The cure requires the gang to find the Buffalord, a dragon believed to be extinct.

Hiccup and Fishlegs are best friends.

Hiccup gets kidnapped. This is the central plot of “Midnight Scrum.” Hiccup gets kidnapped as a child - mentioned in How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury - and he also has an unpleasant hostage situation with the Romans in How to Speak Dragonese.

More dragon species similarities. The Riproarer feels like the Cavern Crasher. The Grimoras feel somewhat like Nanodragons. The Snow Wraith feels a little bit like Sabre-Tooth Driver Dragons. Some fans feel like the Slitherwing looks somewhat like the dragon of the Slavemark.

Dragons hatching from volcanoes. The Eruptodon egg must be placed in a ceremonial location in the center of a volcano to hatch properly. The Fire Dragon also can only hatch from a volcano’s eruption.

Characters seeking out their fathers. Dagur and Heather search for clues of Oswald the Agreeable. Fishlegs spends the majority of the book series trying to find his family and home tribe. Both Dagur and Fishlegs receive disappointing news about their father’s status.

Vikings build inventions far beyond their time. Norbert the Nutjob creates a steamboat. Hiccup builds equipment that can take him to the bottom of the ocean.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

Eret’s brand versus the Slavemark.

Northern non-Viking tribes. The Northern Wanderers from the books could be compared to Eret’s people, the Sami.

Stoick jumps in front of a deadly shot to save Hiccup’s life. Stoick jumps in front of an arrow to try to save Hiccup’s life in How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse, somewhat akin to how Stoick jumps in front of Toothless’ blast in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Hiccup’s butt-kicking mothers neglecting parental duties through quests far from home… quests that their son ultimately fulfills. Valhallarama constantly quests away from Berk to find the King’s Things rather than spending time with her son. In the end, Hiccup collects the King’s Things. Valka leaves Berk entirely to protect dragons. She is not there to raise her son. In the end, Hiccup becomes the chief of Berk, the link between humans and dragons this world needs. In the end, both mothers realize that they have spent too little time with their son when he was growing up, and end up supporting him in his heroic endeavors.

Dragons that change color by mood. The Hobblegrunt changes its color depending on its mood, just like the Mood Dragon.

Sea dragons that breathe ice. The Doomfang is a giant Sea Dragon with a freezing breath. The Bewilderbeast is an enormous “ice spitter.”

Toothless shields Hiccup from an enormous dragon. In HTTYD 2, Toothless jumps in front of the Bewilderbeast’s ice blast and shields Hiccup last-second with his wing. In How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, Toothless jumps in front of Furious to shield Hiccup. It’s to note that even the Bewilderbeast and Furious have parallels!

A chief sacrifices himself to save Hiccup… and Hiccup goes on to become leader. In How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, Hiccup’s cousin Snotlout had become chief of the Hairy Hooligans before dying to save Hiccup. Hiccup’s father Stoick in the movies dies to save his son.

Villain!Valka versus Furious. The initial script for HTTYD 2 pitted Valka as an antagonist who believed that humans and dragons could not live together in harmony, so she attacked Berk and waged war against humans to free the dragon species. She commanded an enormous, behemoth Bewilderbeast in her fights - the King of all Dragons. Sound familiar? Furious is an enormous, behemoth dragon - the King of all Dragons - who wages war against humanity and attacks Berk because he believed that humans and dragons could not live together in harmony. Even the Valka that appears in our final HTTYD 2 bears similarities to Furious. She still does have the mentality humans and dragons cannot coexist in peace.

Drago and Drago’s Bewilderbeast versus Furious. Drago ultimately still has a lot of the same parallels to Furious that villain!Valka does. He commands an enormous dragon army against Berk with the King of all Dragons. Drago + his Bewilderbeast fill somewhat similar roles to Furious in the books.

A potential three way war. The original plan of HTTYD 2 has some interesting set-ups that seem parallel to the final conflict in the books. In the books, there is a three-way war between dragon-friendly humans, dragon-hating humans, and human-hating dragons. In HTTYD 2, Valka was going to be pro-dragon and anti-human life Furious; Drago was going to be pro-human and anti-dragon like the Alvinsmen; and Hiccup was pro-human, pro-dragon like he is in the books. The reason I say potential three-way war is that it’s said Drago was going to be brought up, but not necessarily fleshed out or built upon in the original second movie drafts… the main battle scenes we see of the early storyboards are all seemingly between Berk and Valka.

The Red Rage versus the Bewilderbeast’s control. The dragon kings lead dragons in a mind-altered stated. The Red Rage causes dragons to angrily attack humans. Drago’s Bewilderbeast can control dragon minds - even to the point of dragons attacking their friends. Book!Toothless falls under the Red Rage briefly, and of course DW!Toothless is forced to shoot at Hiccup.

Berk is attacked and destroyed. Furious’ dragons blaze Berk down in fire. Drago, Furious’ equivalent, sends his Bewilderbeast to Berk. The village is wrecked by the dragon’s ice.

Becoming a Hero the Hard Way. Both stories are about Hiccup becoming a Hero the Hard Way. Hiccup becomes a chief in HTTYD 2, while in the books, Hiccup becomes King of the Wilderwest. Both of them are initially unwilling to take up this leadership role, but ultimately fulfill it. And both Hiccups’ ideal is to create a world where humans and dragons live together in peace.

Hiccup is shown to be the one, unique individual who can fulfill the leadership role of his people. Hiccup is prophecied to be Grimbeard the Ghastly’s Heir in the books. Valka in the movies says, “You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together.”

OTHER MATERIALS

Reference to Old Wrinkly. Old Wrinkly’s Cauldron is available for sale in School of Dragons.

Wartihog, Speedifist, and Clueless are residents of Berk. Several of Hiccup’s classmates from the books are NPCs in School of Dragons: Wartihog, Speedifist, and Clueless.

Dragon species. The Devilish Dervish and Windwalker are dragons available to hatch and ride in School of Dragons.

Hiccup’s far-traveled ancestor. In School of Dragons, Stoick is mentioned as having a great-grandfather who traveled far and wide. His great-grandfather in the books, Grimbeard the Ghastly, is someone who definitely sailed great distances. Furthermore, the family name is called the “Horrendous Haddocks.”

Rise of Berk introduces the Green Death.

The comic book “The Legend of Ragnarok” is about the Purple Death attacking Berk. Not only that, but Hiccup makes a reference to the dragon sleeping thousands of years under the sea. The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus dragons (including the Purple Death) slept underneath the sea for thousands of years before coming to Berk’s shore in the first book.

The comic book “The Endless Night” introduces a female sorceress villain. Skuld doesn’t have much in common with Excellinor, but it is still to note this similarity.

How to Train Your Dragon 3 will be about the dragons disappearing, Hiccup making a choice that will affect humans and dragon’s future, and Hiccup actualizing as a leader. The books are of course about the dragons disappearing, Hiccup trying to unite humans and dragons, and Hiccup becoming King of the Wilderwest.

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icyxmischief · 6 years

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Very old Loki headcanons from 2012!

It’s come to my attention that my blog has a whole link to headcanons that are ooooooold. Most of them are still exactly what I think of Loki so I’m going to post them again here but remove the link, as my headcanons and meta tags are far more comprehensive!

Please read however! :3

Loki Headcanons, Character Motives, DiscussionThis list is BY NO MEANS EXHAUSTIVE. PLEASE REFER TO MY TAG “headcanons"

AND MY TAG “meta” FOR ALL DISCUSSIONS OF THIS CHARACTER.1.

Loki wears high-collared clothing even irrespective of battle armor (that is, all the time) because he knows that there is a place on each side of his neck that acts almost like a zen pressure point. If someone clasps his neck it has an odd quelling effect. As an inborn logistician, Loki does not want adversaries or even friends to have that kind of control over him, so he tries to shield access to his vulnerable spot. However, Thor frequently gains access anyway. There are in fact four separate “neck scruff” moments between them (one in “Thor,” in a deleted scene, and three in “Avengers”) and in each Loki is noticeably tranquillized, even, in some cases, dazed. Can you spot them?

Loki’s D&D alliance has changed in the duration between “Thor” and “The Avengers” from Chaotic Good with his family and Lawful Neutral with his country/society, to Lawful Evil against both. He is a salvageable/redeemable character, though, who may revert to a state of “goodness” given enough time and compassionate acceptance. Loki is the epitome of the well-meaning but deeply misguided anti-hero.

Loki’s Meyers-Brigg Personality is some bizarre mixture of Artisan, Rational, and Idealist. He is, at intervals a Composer and a Mastermind (INTJ), with a few notable emotional traits of the Healer (INFP). The only thing he is NOT is a Guardian. In the Harry Potter world, Loki would be a Slytherin with traces of Ravenclaw (he is, when lucid, very curious and cerebral).

Loki is bisexual or perhaps pansexual. Or technically, assigning him a sexual orientation is pointless since he can change genders at will. In sexual relations, whether with a man or with a woman, Loki likes to be “on top” at the onset of the relationship. But with time and painstakingly gained trust, he prefers to be the vulnerable partner. He is capable of being a kind and caring lover, but his partner should be a deeply patient person who can expect a number of arguments based on his evasiveness, egotism, and sensitivity.

Loki claims to be a trickster, to have no concrete ethical convictions, and to be playfully sadistic, but underneath this carefully crafted façade of whimsically cruel nonchalance—and it IS a conscious façade of “who gives a shit what you think, I’m wonderful!”—is a basically serious, somber, rigidly principled, and insecure being who forms ferociously loyal alliances to the people whom he loves. This odd mix of viciousness and sweetness makes Loki a frequently tragic being, as it opens him up for rejection on some level almost constantly. Loki is permanently and severely wounded when he perceives he has been wronged or betrayed (and Loki has very recently developed a bit of a persecution complex, so sometimes those wrongdoings are entirely imagined). He can be completely incapacitated by the belief that someone has been UNFAIR to him, getting emotionally and psychologically stuck on fanatically reliving the unfairness and plotting a way to exact justice. To compensate for a basically weak and insecure constitution, Loki adheres to forced, fanatical beliefs that don’t actually seem to reflect who he is. Doing so gives him psychological armor, however false, to hide behind, and buffers him against the fact that he is completely alone. For instance, his claimed conviction that “freedom is a lie” and “people are happiest when they have someone to bow down to” clashes deeply with his intrinsic role as a mischief-maker and free spirit and, despite his obviously genius-level I.Q., is bizarrely anti-intellectual. In short, Loki lies to himself to feel less terrified of his solitude and personal rejection by others. Engaging in a kind of double-think, he even fully believes his own lies and acts on them with sometimes atrocious results.

Loki probably has a “godly” equivalent of one or more of the “Dissociative” disorders. This means that he has more than one discrete “personality.” Each personality (there are at least two) comes out erratically with little known trigger and sometimes is indistinguishable from the other except based on a tone of voice, type of laugh, or type of smile. Loki himself seems to be unaware of this shift of personalities and even slightly confused whenever a shift takes place. He then covers up the confusion with some bombastic display or arrogant declaration, but clearly is disturbed by the feeling of lost control. While this tendency is innate, and probably has a lot to do with being a Frost Giant made to masquerade as an Asgardian all his life, it was drastically exacerbated when Odin confessed Loki’s true heritage and insinuated that he kidnapped Loki from his real parents because Loki would one day prove a convenient political tool. At that point Loki realized he was entirely uncertain of his identity at all, and previously dormant personality traits awoke and vied for control. This confused selfhood is easily mistaken for some form of Bipolar Disorder, since Loki’s moods are volatile and change often. But it is not a true mood disorder because these emotional upheavals all directly derive from his confused sense of self and his uncertainty over how to deal with it. It is also confused with some rough equivalent of Paranoid Schizophrenia, but Loki is often too high-functioning and lucid to totally qualify for a Schizophreniform Disorder (although there are times that I honestly wonder). While in his childhood and youth he was calm, gentle, and reticent, Loki now exhibits pathologically narcissistic and histrionic traits, and he definitely has Borderline Personality Disorder: which is characterized by unstable personal relationships, an unstable sense of self, a tendency to “split” (lionize and demonize at sudden intervals in black and white terms) other people, and a need to deliberately test the patience of others in order to see how much he can “get away with” before he pushes them away and is abandoned.

All this has become instead a discussion of PTSD.

7. (the big one)

Family for Loki is obviously a complicated issue, probably the most sensitive of all issues. It is in fact the issue from which all his pathological traits derive. Loki, or at least one of the “Lokis plural,” still loves his adoptive brother Thor dearly. But in the mess of everything that has happened (“it’s too late!”), in getting in far over his head with increasingly misguided efforts to be accepted and approved of, Loki no longer knows how to act around or relate to Thor. He also genuinely resents Thor for naturally being everything Loki tries, and fails, to be. He is deeply conflicted about his brother—hence actually talking to him without skewering him, then laughing as Tony Stark beats the shit out of him; hence gazing at him tenderly and crying, then dropping him out a steel trap or stabbing him. Despite all this, Thor is probably Loki’s best (perhaps only) hope for a normal relationship with another living person. Loki perennially seems to rediscover this fact and feel remorse about it. In his innermost self, Loki doesn’t want Thor to be hurt and he is grateful that Thor frets for and puts up with him. Loki probably loves Thor the most of his entire adopted family, since he was shown to defend Thor to their formidable-tempered father, and to counsel Thor against being injured by the Frost Giants (again, Loki USED to be the level-headed of the two brothers!). At the same time, a lifetime of living in Thor’s shadow had made Loki resentful enough by the middle of the film “Thor” to passively, and then quite actively, resist restoring his brother to Asgard. Loki also loves and misses his adoptive mother Frigg/Frigga and would be hard pressed to ever do her physical harm. The only person he completely hates in his adoptive family is his father Odin, though even that hatred is the inverse of having once devotedly adored the “All-Father.” In fact, Loki’s first great act of betrayal—to let the Frost Giants into Asgard and then set up a dimensional portal to commit genocide on his entire native race—was a desperate attempt to prove his love and loyalty to Odin, and to finally feel he had earned Odin’s love—genuine, not with practical perks— in return. He was unwilling to let anyone kill Odin, even though to do so would win him the throne of Asgard, and he proudly proclaimed himself a “son of Odin,” before Odin reiterated his relentless disappointment in Loki (“I could have done it, father, for you! For all of us!” “No, Loki.”). It was only at that point, suspended over a black hole between the dimensions, that Loki completely lost hope in earning Odin’s love. It was then, erroneously, that Loki decided love could not be earned, and had to be TAKEN. This is probably the root of his obsessive preoccupation with subjugating others. Significantly, that was the moment when Loki attempted to commit suicide, and when he survived, it was when he became a great deal more malicious.

Loki is a very obstinate person once he gets into “the zone.” He will sacrifice devastating collateral as well as his own wellbeing in order to “win the game” or obtain what he craves. He is also a brilliant tactician, logistician, and strategist. He works in contingencies and despite being violently stubborn about his ultimate goal, will change courses dozens of times to reach it: chameleons change colors based on their environment and easily shed their skins, after all. As everything else, this ultimately goes back to his basic insecurity and personal confusion, and even a sense of self-loathing.

Loki has several types of laughter that inform the observant person of when he is “lucid” or dangerous. His “real” and innocuous laugh is either a quiet, closed-lipped “HM!” or a calmly clucked series of “eh heh heh heh’”s. His “crazy” laugh is a loud, booming, arrogant, frantic, and abrupt guffaw often accompanied by tossing his head to and fro. Loki’s smiles also determine his mental states. A toothy grin is actually a sign that he is genuinely tickled. He is not aware of these tics, which is ironic, since he is such a fastidious student of other people’s giveaway habits and traits.

10.

Loki is a control freak and has a Napoleon Complex. Again, it comes from a combination of family issues and innate pathology. He hates to feel like he has lost control or had to give too much of himself unfairly to others because he spent his entire childhood and youth doing so to a dysfunctional extent in the vain hope of fitting in and being approved of by Asgardian society. For this reason, something as trivial as losing a chess game causes him to lash out in a resentful rage at the person to whom he has lost. It is not just losing a chess game to Loki; it is literally more evidence of his insufficiency and his unlucky destiny as a being who is constantly used and discarded. Other people frequently misinterpret this as evidence that Loki is greedy, and spoiled, and some crazy hormonal “Drama Queen.” In reality, Loki has no sense of self-preservation at all; he is reckless (whereas he once was very prudent) and sometimes the opposite of self-indulgent, and his violent tantrum-like response to loss of control has a much more tragic source.

11.

Loki hates the sensation of being cold and the sensation of being wet, but this is not because he cannot withstand these sensations; on the contrary the cold is his natural element, and the revulsion is entirely psychological. Both trigger recollections of his actual heritage as a Frost Giant, of which he is ashamed and disgusted. It doesn’t help that he is literally also a runt of his race. He in fact gets embarrassed showing strangers his blue skin and red eyes—unless of course he is in one of his more megalomaniacal states.

12.

Loki is a shape shifter and can change both genders and species, and frequently does so for shits and giggles. When he and Thor were children and Loki began to study sorcery to compensate for his physical smallness, he put on “changing shows” to make his brother laugh, especially when Thor was sad about something.

13.

Loki respects and is strangely fascinated by Tony Stark. In many ways he can relate to Tony, who is like a far saner, far less fanatical, version of him. Of all the “Avengers,” aside Thor, Tony is the individual who Loki can most tolerate. But Tony also makes him the angriest the fastest because Tony is so brilliant, insightful, and unflappable.

14.

When Loki is very tired or dozes off lightly, and is not properly in bed, objects and living things randomly transform and shape shift under his half-conscious powers.

Loki also has difficulty waking up once he has fallen into a deep sleep. It takes him forever to trust his environment enough to fall unconscious, and he hates that feeling of “total surrender,” but once he is asleep, he sleeps like a rock. It is in fact directly after awakening, when still achieving a state of consciousness, that Loki is the most like his childhood self: quiet and gentle. He is also unusually impressionable in that state. When they were boys, Thor recognized this and was very protective of his little brother until Loki had fully awakened. This has not changed, but Loki is careful to be alone most of the time when he expects to rouse from slumber so that nobody witnesses it.

15.

We become what we are told we are, if we are told enough times. Loki, treated with almost a racist bigotry throughout his childhood, and suddenly exposed to the fact that he belongs to a race of hated monsters, believes himself to be an agent of chaos, pain, and subjugation. He believes he must be the equal and opposite foil to his brother. For life to continue, death must exist; for the earth to be fertilized and yield new life, bacterial agents must exact decay. What is tragic about this, and probably the reason for Loki’s obviously forced self-exultation, is the fact that more than anything, he wanted to be one of the agents of good, light, and order until it became clear to him that nobody would ever allow this—and now Loki embraces his role as the doer of dirty work, as the negative inverse in the eternal counter-balance of light and dark, gods and devils, and indeed, on some level, he plays a necessary role in the universe. But this was not what he originally wanted himself to be, and it is still not what he wants to be even now. This is a core reason for why he is jealous of and resentful toward Thor. Thor literally lives the life Loki wishes he could live.

16.

Loki actually enjoys taking the long route to victory. He foregoes easier and more certain methods to achieving his goals solely for the pure enjoyment of fabricating highly circuitous plots and watching them come to fruition with often delightfully surprising side developments that force him to use his wits and ingenuity in order to wriggle out on top. He is a thrillseeker, as most sociopaths are. It’s almost like tinkering with a motherboard to him—one that is plugged into an electrical outlet and could shock him at any moment if he makes the wrong move. He loves that sensation. In another life, he would actually make an excellent vigilante hero.

17.

When Loki was a child and ashamed of something, he would cast a spell that made him physically disappear and sit in dejected silence for hours. Only Thor could find him and convince him to become visible again. This is almost like a literal internalization of disempowerment, of the fact that he is constantly told to “shut up” or “know his place” by elders; even Thor snapped this at Loki once, in the “Thor” film, when Loki was only trying to convince Heimdall to let the group through the Bifrost, and when Loki was trying to keep Thor from being killed by Frost Giants.

18.

I am not sure whether or not I agree with this theory, but I will put it as a headcanon for now since it is well-thought-out: Loki originally formed an alliance with Thanos of the Titans thinking “cakewalk!” He was quickly proven wrong and got in over his head with the most dangerous being in the universe while making his bid for the chitauri. The plan, which Loki was now forced to carry out, was to cause the Avengers to assemble and to LOSE TO THEM PURPOSEFULLY (Loki never wanted to rule the “worthless” Midgardians anyway) to have an excuse for Thor to take him home to Asgard (which he still wants to conquer and refashion in his own image). Once in Asgard, Loki will fetch Thanos his payment for the use of the chitauri and the restoration to Asgard’s throne—by handing over the Infinity Glove/Gauntlet that is pictured as part of Odin’s treasury in the “Thor” film. At this point Loki’s feelings about ruling Asgard and harming his adoptive family are mixed, but he absolutely has NO CHOICE but to follow through (the Chitauri said “if you betray us there is no corner of any universe in which he [Thanos] cannot find you” and “you think you know pain? He [Thanos] will make you long for something so sweet as pain”). In the aftermath of this, what Loki will do remains to be seen or even guessed at. Many speculate that this is where his “redemption arc” will take place. In the duration, if “Thor 2” rumors are true, Loki will be either advising Thor against or machinating alongside an Asgardian sorceress and her allies. Probably the latter, as a way to execute his plans to get on the Throne of Asgard and get to the gauntlet that he owes Thanos.

19.

Sometime in the span of the Avengers franchise, possibly in Avengers 2 but probably not as early as Thor 2, Loki will in some way recant his crimes and redeem himself. I have not a clue how but too much effort was put into making him deeply sympathetic in the beginning for this to not take place. It will just be after he stirs up A LOT more shit (since he is technically a Marvel “big bad”). The person who will get through to him will be Thor. No doubt.

I personally am expecting one of the films to end with a teaser to the Journey Into Mystery comics arc, with a reborn child Loki.

Well this happened, yay! lol.

20.

Loki coveted his current wife Sigyn of the Vanir (the Norse Goddess of Fidelity) with his usual possessive and jealous nature, but he also killed and impersonated her fiance Theoric of the Crimson Hawks because Theoric was a controlling brute and Loki, who had taken time and effort to get to know Sigyn quite well, was moved by her bookish and intellectual temperament and her feelings of hopelessness and disempowerment (to which he could closely relate). They are, as spouses, surprisingly gentle and tender, and they baby each other a lot. Sigyn is no pushover, though her nature is quiet and introspective. Loki is a devoted father to his twin sons Vali and Narvi, which makes their ultimate fate in Norse mythology all the more tragic.

Headcanon directly derived from Tumblr user Asgardian-Spook. <3 :)

21.

Loki is a quintessential Scorpio. His moon is in Cancer and his ascendant is Gemini.

His birthday was November 14. He is at least eight-nine hundred years old (the “Thor” film puts his infancy at around 965 A.D.).

22.

Pathological liar? Yes and no.

Loki is capable of sincerity unwaveringly in one form: when he cries. He cannot feign tears and crying is how constantly brewing intense emotions that he cannot quantify or qualify in his typically over-intellectual manner simply broil to the surface.

No other form of deceit is beyond him to execute successfully, however. There is a reason why the God of Mischief is also sometimes called the God of Lies. He did not invent lying, but lying is closely tied to illusive endeavors and so he became proficient at it. It is also important to note that lying is not always a cruel or destructive force. It can be put to kind uses, in the form of sparing someone’s feelings by concealing hurtful truths, and when he was younger, Loki was known to do so. Ironically, if he recognized that Odin, in his own destructively rigid way, was trying to do just that with respect to Loki’s Jotun heritage, it would have spared Loki himself a lot of heartache.

23. (how did Loki get from “Thor” to “Avengers”?)

As confirmed by Tom Hiddleston, the immensely skilled actor who portrays Loki in the Marvel films, when Hiddleston referred to a conversation with “Avengers” director Joss Whedon:

In the end of “Thor,” when Loki essentially attempted suicide and fell into a dimensional wormhole between the realms, a kind of liminal “seventh circle of hell” (Hiddleston’s words), the temporal flow was different than it is in the “real” world, and he spent years there in total solitude staring at stars and supernovas and black holes and reliving over and over how terribly awry his life had gone before becoming lost. In this period Loki’s memories were severely distorted and he began to remember the last moments before he let go of Mjolnir’s handle in a warped way (for instance, he remembered Thor “throwing him” into the abyss rather than letting go himself while Thor frantically screamed his name, as he states in “Avengers”).

This was followed by being discovered by the Chitauri, who scried his most intimate thoughts and tortured him for sport and sent him to witness suffering and evil in every conceivable reality, realm, and universe (including earth, where he made contact with Eric Selvig and saw the Tesseract), and told him he was right in believing there was no value in freedom or love.

At this point Loki completely snapped. He bargained retrieval of the Tesseract for release onto Midgard, which the Chitauri were to, in turn, help him conquer. After contacting Thanos, the Chitauri agreed to this. Loki decided this was a win-win. Either he would rule Midgard and finally be a rightful king just like his brother and force his way into Asgard to get the Infinity Gauntlet for Thanos, OR he would fail, and be taken back to Asgard as a prisoner, and stillget the Infinity Gauntlet for Thanos.

This explains many things about Loki. It explains why he was so sickly and gaunt when he returned to earth, as well as so much more markedly insane and cruel. It explains his belief in himself as some savior-pariah: “Freedom is life’s greatest lie” because the freedom to aspire as an individual is also the freedom to fail, to be found wanting, to be thought inferior: just as Loki himself was found inferior by his family and society. So essentially, Loki’s raison d’etre is a kind of warped and twisted megalomaniacal “philanthropy.” As Hiddleston put it, “Every villain is a hero in his own mind.”

Addendum: Because of this purgatorial experience in outer space, twilight and evening, and the appearance of a clear starry night sky in general, cause Loki to become nervous and depressed, though almost no one is aware of this.

24.

Loki finds rain and thunderstorms relaxing and uplifting, even in spite of himself.

The reasons are obvious even to him. <3

25.

When Loki is extremely emotionally agitated, to calm himself, he either cups his own neck with his hands, or he jiggles his left hand at his side frantically.

26. Everything Loki and Sigyn can be found in this post: http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/32629880715/logyn-headcanons-master-post-mostly-sweetdreamr-for

27. Everything Loki and Tony (not a pairing, but a character comparison) can be found in these posts, which I will add to as time permits:

http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/33117237448/tony-and-loki-are-alike-and-different-1

http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/33125946272/tony-and-loki-are-alike-and-different-2

http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/33129217327/tony-and-loki-are-alike-and-different-3

http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/33130071948/tony-and-loki-are-alike-and-different-4

28. The following post is a proposed list of Loki’s internal monologue during the film “Thor,” since we all know how labyrinthine his mind is, and how often he changes his course: http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/35072821755/strategy-shift-ok-im-actually-curious-and-i-think

29. I was asked by a follower to compare Loki to Magneto and this post is what I came up with: http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/35374292652/loki-vs-magneto

30: Loki and the Body Politic (an essay by another writer that encapsulates many of my beliefs) : http://pleasantvilles.tumblr.com/post/54144354420/chaos-theory-on-lokis-experience-of-embodiment

31: MY THEORY OF THOR 2: http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/55192114069/so-what-do-i-think-will-happen-in-thor-2-you-ask

#headcanons #Loki #Loki meta #meta #save tag

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